Airlines in Libya: EU Flying Ban
One of the major challenges for airlines in Libya is the EU ban of flights from Libya. For the past few years the Libya’s Civil Aviation Authority (LYCAA) has been trying to revoke the bank that is putting the strain on both 2 local airlines. As a result of this, Libyan Airlines is currently wet-leasing aircraft and flight-deck staff to service its European routes.
One of the major challenges for airlines in Libya is the EU ban of flights from Libya. For the past few years the Libya’s Civil Aviation Authority (LYCAA) has been trying to revoke the bank that is putting the strain on both 2 local airlines. As a result of this, Libyan Airlines is currently wet-leasing aircraft and flight-deck staff to service its European routes.
According to Khaled Ben Alewa, CEO of Libyan Airlines – largest airlines in Libya, “For the last 6 or 7 months we have been working on meeting the standards required by the EU. It is a good thing that Libyan Airlines should reapply to the European safety requirements. We have just finished working on this and the Libyan Aviation authorities have passed on the results to the safety committee of the EU. We are waiting to receive the results by next week maximum.”
Alewa agrees that the ban is putting a strain on airlines and the lifting of ban would be a major milestone of aviation industry in Libya.
“The European ban is definitely a challenge. As I said, when you start to have a good quantity of aircraft to operate your network and then you have to lease aircraft just to operate certain sectors this is a great challenge. Obviously I want to return to using Libyan Airlines aircraft on flights to Europe. It is costing money to lease aircraft and as I said before, it would be better to operate with our own aircraft because they are brand new,” adds Alewa.