Afriqiyah Airways flight linking Tripoli and Benghazi arrives after months of suspension

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A plane of Libya’s state-owned Afriqiyah Airways arrived Friday at the international airport of Benina (Benghazi) from the international Maitiga airport in Tripoli, an official source said here.

The flight marks the resumption of the link between the two cities after months of suspension because of the Tripoli war.

The flight was carrying a delegation of the airline and airport services and the civil aviation of the ministry of Communication of the Libyan Government of National Accord, a statement issued by the airport authority said.

It is the first Tripoli-Benghazi flight in two years.

The link was interrupted due to the political divisions in the country between two rival governments.

These are the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord recognized by the international community and an interim one appointed by the parliament and allied with Marshall Khalifa Haftar.  

The divisions were curbed by the attack launched on 4 April 2019 by Haftar against Tripoli before being defeated in June 2020 and withdrawing to the east of the country.

The delegation which arrived in Benghazi Friday will enquire on the equipment of the airport, to contribute to provide what it needs to start its activities.

It includes the chief of the governance office of the Libyan holding company, Afriqiyah Airways, Milad Al-Hajrassi, director of the financial department of the airport’s authority, Mohamed Al-Atrach and his companions, the vice-president of the board of directors of Afriqiyah Airways, Muftah Al-Rkibi, and the managing director of the airline, Khaled Souissi.

The vice-president of the Presential Council, Ahmed Maitig, announced Friday the resumption of flights from the international airport of Maitiga to Tripoli and Benina Benghazi.

In a message on his official Facebook page, Maitig wrote: "By the grace of God, our efforts and those of all persons of good faith we have succeeded. On this blessed day, flights have resumed between the airports of Maitiga and Benina."

He expressed the hope that the flights would mark the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Libyan people in the east, west and south of the country, and not only on mobility, but for all the difficulties they met. 

-0-    PANA   BY/IS/MSA/RA   16Oct2020