The Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs, Walid Al-Lafi, held a meeting with the committee to lift the air embargo on Libyan air carriers in European airspace.
The meeting was attended by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transportation, the Head of the Civil Aviation Authority, the Acting Head of the Airports Authority, the Director of the Ports Department at the Ministry of Interior, and representatives of the Internal Security and Intelligence Services.
Plan and quick procedures to reopen EU ban
The meeting dealt with developing a plan and quick procedures to reopen European airspace for Libyan aviation, beginning in coordination with Italy, to resume flights between the two countries. The final stage would entail lifting the whole European embargo and allowing Libyan registered aircraft to cross the airspace and land at European airports.
Libyan airports are safe and to international standards
Speaking exclusively to Libya Herald, Mohamed Fustawi, the Acting Head of the Libyan Airports Authority said the measures taken at Libyan airports are very safe and committed to international standards for aviation safety.
Other airliners fly to Libya and Libyan airliners fly to 6 countries
This, he said, is evidenced by the international airlines that operate flights to Libyan airports, as well as the airports in Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Malta and Jordan, in which the planes of Libyan companies land.
Fustawi referred to the Airports Authority’s endeavour to achieve smart airport solutions in the field of protection and visual control, and to ensure the safety of international aviation at Libyan airports and airspace.
Opening Tripoli International Airport will help lift flight ban
He added that the completion of the Tripoli International Airport project, with a capacity of 4 million passengers per year, as a first stage, will have the most prominent role in the return of international aviation to land at Libyan airports, as well as in opening European airspace to Libyan aviation, in which no security breach was recorded in the past years.
It is worth noting that the decision to ban Libyan carriers from flying in European airspace was taken in 2014, after the European Commission announced a ban on dealing with all transport companies and banning their registered aircraft.
