Libya’s Tripoli based Ministry of Transport celebrated through a post on its social media page last Thursday (16 January) the success of ground services dealing with an emergency landing at Kufra airport.
Kufra is located about 1,724 kms by road from the capital Tripoli and 1,025 kms from the regional eastern capital Benghazi.
The state Libyan Company for Ground Services had reported that an Egypt Air flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Kufra Airport due to the sudden illness of one of the flight attendants on board. The flight attendant had suffered a drop in the level of blood sugar and high blood pressure.
The Libyan Company for Ground Services reported that the preset emergency plan was provided and applied, and all necessary services were provided with high quality to the plane and crew.
The Libyan Ground Services Company assured that the company’s stations at all Libyan airports are ready to operate within 24 hours to provide ground services to all flights of airlines crossing Libyan airspace.
Good news for Libya’s efforts to lift EU flight ban
The news of the successful processing of the emergency landing of the Egypt Air flight at Kufra airport is good news for Libya. The Libyan government has been working hard over the last ten years to reinstate flights to Libyan airports – including flights crossing its airspace.
Libya had been losing billions of US dollars’ worth of revenue from fees for flights over its airspace. The successful Egypt Air emergency landing at the very remote Kufra airport should help allay fears and encourage more flights into crossing Libya’s vast airspace.
The government’s efforts have come with success, with ITA Airways resuming direct flights between Tripoli and Rome earlier this month. Other flights that have started or resumed over the last few months/years include, MedSky, Turkish Airlines, Egypt Air, and Royal Jordanian.
