Libya – Leaked documents expose deep-rooted corruption hollowing out Afriqiyah Airways
Inflated jet leases, lavish real-estate bills and off-books salaries push flag carrier toward insolvency
Leaks reveal systemic over-spending
A trove of contracts, bank transfers and official memos—reviewed by Al-Marsad after the airline’s recent “cry for help”—shows a pattern of financial and administrative abuses inside Afriqiyah Airways. Managers face accusations of ballooning costs, hiring outside patronage and draining cash reserves at a carrier already burdened by a swollen payroll and heavy debts.
Aircraft deals under the microscope
| Deal | Key details | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| Egyptian Boeing 777 (reg. SU-KHP) | Three-month wet-lease signed Nov 2024 with Alexandria Airlines; payments exceed US $14 million | Libya’s Civil Aviation Authority warned of technical and safety issues, yet payments went ahead (documents on file). |
| Jordanian Boeing 767 (reg. JY-JAL) | Lease contract dated 22 Apr 2025 with Jordan Aviation for a jet now 36 years old; contract lists only an insurance coverage of US $650 million for hull and passengers | No clear disclosure of rental rates or operating terms, raising questions about actual financial liability. |
| Fly Oya Boeing 777 (reg. 5A-GRS) | Two-day charter 25–26 May 2025—effectively a 72-hour window—priced at LD 2,116,800 (about LD 88,000 per flight-hour) | Aviation analysts call the fee “extraordinary” for such a short lease (internal invoices reviewed). |
Headquarters spending tops LD 12 million
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In Mar 2023 Afriqiyah rented a building on Omar al-Mukhtar Street for LD 210,000 per month—or LD 2.52 million a year—a sum auditors say could have bought or built a permanent headquarters.
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In 2025 the airline paid LD 4.7 million to contractor Hudood al-Tamaas for renovation of the rented premises, pushing three-year premises costs over LD 12 million (payment orders seen by Al-Marsad).
Five-star travel in a cash crisis
Vouchers from travel firm Ajwa’ al-Terhal show Afriqiyah was billed LD 91,000 to lodge five staff at Tunis’s Armada Hotel for just three to five days—evidence, critics say, of habitual waste at a company that pleads poverty.
Intelligence officer on an off-books payroll
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Khaled Abu-al-Qasem Ben Taleb—an employee of Libya’s intelligence service, not Afriqiyah—was seconded to the airline’s Sudan office at US $11,000 a month.
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Payroll slips confirm he kept drawing salary through 2024, including LD 200,000 for Aug–Oct 2024, even after all airline and embassy staff evacuated wartime Khartoum.
Union: “Institutional corruption, not conspiracy”
In a memo to the Administrative Control Authority, Afriqiyah’s labour union says the mismanagement is no outside plot but an entrenched web of padded expenses and illegal hires. Combined with Libya’s political split, post-2014 sanctions, damage from Operation Fajr Libya and years of war, the union warns the carrier is hurtling toward administrative and financial collapse—driven largely by those entrusted to run it.
