A new step towards reviving Libyan aviation
LIBYA – The Government of National Unity’s Minister of Transport, Mohamed Al-Shahoubi, has announced that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has lifted its earlier aviation safety warnings on Libyan airspace, issued in 2013 and 2015, after they had remained in place for more than ten years.
Efforts to upgrade airports and navigation systems
According to the government’s Hukumatna platform, Al-Shahoubi described the decision as a national achievement in restoring Libyan airspace to its place on the international air navigation map, and the result of the government’s efforts, in coordination with international organisations, to develop the aviation sector and strengthen aviation safety and security standards.
He said the past few years had seen work to upgrade airport infrastructure and modernise navigation systems, with the aim of restoring the international community’s confidence in Libya’s aviation sector.
Programme to promote the airspace and resume direct flights
He announced plans to launch a programme to inform international airlines of developments in Libyan airspace and to encourage them to resume direct flights to Libya and make use of the air corridor linking Europe and Africa.
He expressed hope for an increase in international overflights through Libyan airspace, a revival of air transport and higher related revenues.
Tourism, investment and remaining restrictions
In his view, the new development opens opportunities to support economic, tourism and investment activity and to promote Libya as a business destination.
He stressed that cooperation with the relevant international bodies would continue in order to complete the requirements for lifting the remaining restrictions on Libyan airlines, describing the lifting of the warnings as the start of a new phase in developing civil aviation and restoring Libya’s regional and international role in air transport.
