By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 14 July 2014:
Labraq Airport near Beida is now the only airport operating in Libya, with international flights to . . .[restrict]and from Egypt and elsewhere, although non-Libyans were banned from arriving there at the end of May.
Misrata Airport is now closed because air traffic controllers do not feel it safe to travel to their headquarters at Tripoli International Airport, itself closed because of the clashes between Zintani brigades and Operation Dawn forces.
Air Traffic Control in Tripoli covers the entire west of the country.
Libya’s two other international airports at Benghazi and Sebha had already stopped operations because of clashes.
Earlier, the state-owned Afriqiyah Airways and Libyan Airlines had decided to reroute all Tripoli flights through Misrata airport until Tripoli airport reopened.
In a post yesterday on its Facebook page, the airline announced that flights to and from it would be suspended for three days due to the unstable security situation at the airport. It added that an emergency meeting was underway to find a temporary solution for those scheduled to fly in and out of the capital.
Later in the day, the airline decided that flights between Tripoli and Dubai, Tunis, Muscat and Cairo would fly in and out of Misrata, while some flights to and from Europe were cancelled.
The carrier said that it had considered operating the flights through Matiga Air Base but the Civil Aviation Authority had vetoed the option.
Today, an Afriqiyah source told the Libya Herald that it was still awaiting permission from the Civil Aviation Authority to operate out of Misrata. It was hopeful that it would receive it tomorrow, he said, but the situation was complicated by the fact that Air Traffic Control at Tripoli airport was not working. [/restrict]
