By Sami Zaptia.
London, 5 April 2021:
A delegation from Italy’s ENAV, led by the CEO Paolo Simioni, met in Tripoli today with the Libyan Transport Minister Mohamed Al-Shahubi and the head of the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority Mustafa Benammar, to plan the main activities to relaunch the Libyan civil aviation and support the establishment of direct connections with Italy and Europe, ENAV reported today.
ENAV said it will support Libyan aviation in the coming months by replacing the damaged equipment of the new control tower at Tripoli’s Mitiga airport, built by ENAV two years ago. It will also provid high technology for the control towers of the Tripoli and Misrata airports and for the Tripoli Area Control Centre.
CEO of ENAV Paolo Simioni stated: ‘‘Libya for ENAV represents a strategic Country. Almost all the connections between Europe and equatorial Africa pass through Libya and Italy. If Libyan airspace remains closed for the international air flow, the airline companies are consequently forced not to cross Italy either. Supporting them therefore means not only contributing to the growth of ENAV’s commercial activities but also ensuring an air flow that relaunches connections with Europe and specially with Italy. We are proud to be involved in the stabilization process of the country, also responding to the legitimate expectations of mobility of the Libyan people.’’
ENAV has been collaborating continuously with the Libyan authorities since 2011, also thanks to the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016, for the training of operational personnel, modernization of the air navigation infrastructures and aeronautical consultancy services.
ENAV reported that in the last two years, it has signed contracts with its Libyan counterpart for the modernization of infrastructures for air traffic management for an amount of approximately 14 million euros. These activities, currently underway, are part of a development process of the Libyan airspace necessary to guarantee direct connections with Europe.
It also reported that it will provide and setup technological systems for the control towers of Tripoli and Misrata International Airport and systems for the new Tripoli Area Control Centre; it will also provide the flight inspections and calibration services for some air navigations and radio aids in the Tripoli and Misrata area.