Panafrican News Agency

Libyan officials discuss ways to lift ban on Libyan airlines

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Senior officials of the Libyan foreign ministry and Civil Aviation Authority on Monday met to discuss the coordination of efforts to secure the lifting of a ban imposed in 2014 by the European Union Commission on all Libyan airlines for safety reasons.

The meeting was attended by Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister for Cooperation and International Organisations, Omar Ketti, and the President of the Civil Aviation Authority, Mustapha Ammar.

The action of the EU Council blacklisted seven Libyan airlines: Afriqiyah Airways, Air Libya, Buraq Air, Ghadames Air Transport, Global Aviation and Services, Libyan airlines and Petro Air.

The meeting stressed the importance of "political weight and support", in addition to technical support, to speed up the lifting of the ban, a foreign ministry statement said.

The chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority presented the prospects of cooperation in civil aviation with some airlines, such as Qatar Airways, Emirates Airlines, EgyptAir and Turkish Airlines. He said there are plans, in this context, to visit Algeria soon to meet with officials of the Algerian airline.

Ammar explained that the Aviation Authority has a programme to train employees, and gave the assurance that the authority will take important steps to support the efforts of the Foreign Ministry to lift the ban.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said there were plans to visit Greece and a number of European countries to inform aviation officials of measures taken to ensure a safe and logistical environment at Libyan airports, and to confirm their readiness to receive international flights.

Since the Government of National Unity took office in March 2021, Libya has regained a certain stability that has allowed the return of foreign embassies and international organisations to operate from Tripoli.

There have also been flights by some neighbouring countries, such as Tunisia, Malta and Egypt.

-0- PANA BY/JSG/BBA/MA 11Jan2022