By Libya Herald reporters.
Benghazi, 21 August 2017:
Just five weeks after it was reopened following three years of closure, Benghazi’s Benina airport has again closed to all commercial flights, this time because of a strike by ground staff.
They are demanding 16 months’ back pay, which they say is owed them.
“All traffic is suspended until further notice,” a spokesman for the airport said adding that the staff had given no notification of industrial action.
There was, through, a warning by ground staff last week that they would strike if the authorities did not pay them. “No one listened,” one of the strikers told the Libya Herald. “Maybe they will now.”
The decision to strike now is said to be linked to the approach of Eid. “Eid is coming and they need their money,” said one understanding passenger today who has had to delay his return to Benghazi as a result.
