By Tom Westcott and Seraj Essul.
Tripoli, 16 May 2013:
At least ten flights to and from Tripoli International Airport were cancelled today . . .[restrict]because of bad weather.
A severe ghibli, a hot sand-bearing wind blowing in from the Sahara, reduced visibility on the runway resulting in the cancellation of a number of flights from the airport. Passengers booked to fly on Alitalia’s 1.55 service to Rome were left stranded at the airport, waiting to hear whether the 5.55 departure would still go ahead.
“More than ten flights were cancelled this morning,” a spokesman for Tripoli International Airport told the Libya Herald, “but most flights started again from 1 pm.” He added that if weather conditions worsened, more services could be affected.
Some flights, including routes from Frankfurt in Germany and Vienna in Austria, were unable to land and were forced to divert to Djerba in Tunisia, according to a Tripoli airport source.
Not all flights were affected. Head of customer service for Afriqiyah Airways, Hisham Soudi, told the Libya Herald that all Afriqiyah flights departed this morning. As long as visibility was at least 500 metres, he said, there was not a problem with taking off. Landing in such conditions, he said, could be more difficult.
During the month of April, ghiblis grounded air traffic at both Benghazi and Tripoli airports. [/restrict]
