Direct flights set to resume between Libya’s east, Turkiye

TRIPOLI, Libya

The state-run Libyan Airlines is set to resume direct flights from the country’s east to Turkiye after more than seven year hiatus.

“Next Tuesday, the first direct Libyan Airlines flight from Benina Airport in Benghazi to Sabiha Airport in Istanbul (will be launched), with two flights per week," Arafat Al-Barghathi of the Libyan flag carrier said in a statement.

On Thursday, an official at the Benina International Airport told local media that the privately owned Libyan Barneq Airlines will operate its first flights from Benina Airport to Istanbul Airport after Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

While there are weekly flights between Libya’s west and Turkiye, flights from airports in the east of the country have been suspended since 2014 due to armed conflict in the region coupled by a dispute between Ankara and the Benghazi-based administration at the time.

On January 29, Turkish Ambassador to Libya Kanaan Yilmaz told Anadolu Agency following a visit to Benghazi that he discussed with the Libyan side the resumption of Turkish Airlines flights to the city.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara