By Moutaz Ali.
Istanbul, 30 September 2014:
The large numbers of Libyans in Turkey trying to get home for Eid has resulted serious . . .[restrict]problems for many. There are insufficient flights to deal with the numbers.
Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport is where all the Libyans planning to return home have to fly from. No other Turkish airports have flights to Libya.
When you walk into the terminal building, the large number of Libyans scattered around soon becomes noticeable to anyone used to the distinctive Libyan Arabic dialect. Others can be seen standing in large queues in front of the Libyan Airlines and Afriqyah Airways small offices at the airport.
At the beginning of the summer, there were over half a dozen flights a day between Tripoli and Istanbul and others from Benghazi and Misrata. Turkish Airlines had three a day between Tripoli and Istanbul, one daily to Benghazi and six a week to Misrata. With no visas required for Libyans travelling to Turkey, Istanbul was the prime destination for so many going abroad. Now, with Tripoli International Airport unusable and Benghazi’s Benina Airport still under siege, it is difficult to find flights out of Ataturk Airport.
Since late July, Turkish Airlines has suspended all its flights to Libya, while Afriqiyah and Libya Airlines are operating one flight each daily between the capital’s Mitiga airport and Istanbul, and Afiqiyah two a week between Misrata and Istanbul.
It is not just the politics that has reduced the number of flights. Many aircraft were destroyed in the attack on Tripoli International Airport in July, setting back the development of the Libyan airlines industry by years.
Trying to cope with the rush of Libyans wanting to go home for Eid is proving a difficult task for the two Libyan airlines flying out of Istanbul.
“We are trying to operate to the best of our ability to serve all these people,” a Libyan Airlines official in Istanbul told the Libya Herald. “But it’s not easy given circumstances the country is going through. We also have to assist Libyans transiting through Istanbul from countries around the world flying home from home,” he added.
Some of the passengers have been to coming daily to the airport for four or five days in the hope of finding a seat.
“This is my fourth day coming to the airport and without any result,” Doukali Meghri, a student in Austria, told this newspaper while also complaining about what he claimed was the unhelpful attitude of airline counter staff.
Istanbul looks likely to remain a bottleneck even after Eid is over. There are other destinations from Mitiga, Misrata and Labrak airports – to Tunis, Sfax, Casablanca, Cairo, Alexandria, Amman Dubai and Khartoum. With so many Libyans wanting a break and Istanbul one of the few places where they can travel without a visa it means that that the route will remain overcrowded. [/restrict]
