By Tom Westcott.
Tripoli, 18 November 2013:
German airline Lufthansa has suspended its Libya flights until 25 November on the grounds of the . . .[restrict]General Strike that is taking place in Tripoli.
“We have cancelled flights until the 25 November, due to the General Strike announcements,” a spokesperson for Lufthansa told the Libya Herald. He added that any tickets booked over this week-long period would be refunded or rebooked at no extra cost.
“Since we only have one flight a day, the effect is not dramatic,” the spokesman said.
It took time to reinstate services after any flight cancellations, he said, explaining why flights were being postponed for a whole week when the General Strike had only planned for three days.
He added that Lufthansa was in touch with the appropriate authorities about the flight cancellations. A previous suspension of flights, in February this year, resulted in Lufthansa flying on a reduced schedule three times a week.
The Libyan Civil Aviation Authority (LYCAA) told the Libya Herald at the time that the airline had not informed them of the decision to suspend flights “in the proper way.” This resulted in Lufthansa initially being refused permission to resume flights and then temporarily losing a code-sharing agreement with Libyan Airlines which boosted its flight quota. Flights returned to normal after one month. [/restrict]
