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By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 12 March 2015:
Saudi Arabia and Sudan have given permission to Libyan registered aircraft from Tripoli’s Mitiga airport . . .[restrict]to pass through their airspace en route to Amman Jordan, according to the pro-GNC/Libya Dawn office of the Libyan news agency LANA .
The news was confirmed today by the departure of a Libyan Airlines flight to Amman.
The new flight path which will add at least four hours to the flight was necessitated following the announcement that flights from Libya Dawn-controlled airports to Amman could not land en route in either Tobruk or Al-Beida.
Normally, flights from Mitiga and Misrata to Jordan have to pass through Egyptian-contolled airspace. But Egypt has insisted that flights originating from Libya Dawn-controlled airports must be stop over and be checked at either Tobruk or Labraq.
It is not clear if the Saudi and Sudanese authorities are opening their airspace to Libyan planes permanently, or just on a short term basis in order to allow for the return of stranded Libyan passengers in Amman. However, the Libya Herald was told by sources in Riyadh that it was extremely unlikely that the Saudi authorities s would give permission to flights from Libya Dawn airports to use Saudi airspace on a regular basis. Nor does the roundabout via Sudan and Saudi Arabia make economic sense.
Meanwhile, having informed passengers and Mitiga airport authorities that it would toresume its flights to Mitiga, the Malta-based carrier Medavia cancelled its three planned flights to Tripoli today without revealing any reasons.
There is a ban by the EU on all Libyan registered aircraft entering EU airspace or travelling to EU destinations.
The only direct flight between Libya and the EU is the chartered evacuation flights operated by Medavia between Malta and Tripoli’s Mitiga airport. [/restrict]
