By Tom Westcott.
Tripoli, 22 June 2014:
Efforts to boost the country’s aviation sector and lift restrictions preventing Libyan airlines flying . . .[restrict]in EU airspace are being held back by the country’s ongoing security situation, with essential training postponed.
A new civil aviation training programme should have already seen a number of personnel start in-country courses, but these have had to be postponed, the Director General of the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority (LYCAA), Captain Nasereddin Shaebelain, told the Libya Herald.
“We were supposed to start some training by several EU member states willing to support our programme here in Tripoli but, because of security, a travel ban was imposed on the trainers and the courses have been postponed,” Shaebelain said.
He said that alternative options were now being explored to enable civil aviation staff to pursue the training which, he said, included general safety training and aviation inspector training. One of the solutions, he said, could be to send the staff abroad, although this prospect would be time-consuming and expensive.
“We are trying to do our best but the security situation is hampering our attempts,” Shaebelain said.
Developing civil aviation safety is the current focus of the LYCAA in its ongoing bid to get a self-imposed ban on Libyan-registered planes and crew flying in EU airspace lifted. Findings by a team of air safety consultants which visited Libya earlier this year suggested that, despite “promising progress,” Libya’s civil aviation safety systems were still in need of further reform.
“It was unclear if all air carriers were being subject to certification and oversight,” the EU Commission’s report noted. “Both primary and secondary aviation safety legislation was very weak and safety regulations were not issued; safety management was not implemented at the level of the competent authority.”
Following these findings, the LYCAA stepped up its focus on reforms demanded by the EU and developed the training programme it is now finding impossible to put into action.
Previously, the focus has been on the recertification of Libyan pilots through additional training on aircraft simulators.
“Most Libyan pilots are trained to a similar standard as EU pilots, after simulation training in France and Germany, which is in accordance with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) requirements,” Shaebelain explained.
After waiting three years for the flight ban to be lifted, state-owned airline Afriqiyah Airways is now circumventing the restriction, after signing an agreement with an Irish aviation company to register three of its aircraft in Ireland.
Earlier this month, Afriqiyah’s London-Gatwick route was operated by one of the airline’s own Airbus A320s for the first time since March 2011. [/restrict]
