Airlines Suspend Flights, Evacuate Aircraft Amid Libya Violence

Flights have been suspended and aircraft are being evacuated at the Libyan capital Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport after violent clashes between two armed groups left two people dead, according to local media reports and flight tracking information. 

The disruption is the latest example of upheaval for airlines flying to/from African destinations, or through African airspace, after the closure of Niger’s airspace earlier in August led to flight reroutings and cancellations. 

In an Aug. 14 update, OPS Group said aircraft were being evacuated from Tripoli, including Airbus A330 and A320 aircraft from Libyan airline Afriqiyah Airways and smaller operators, to Misrata, Libya’s third-largest city.  

Inbound flights are also diverting, OPS Group said, adding that the Libyan government aircraft, a King Air 350, was also being taken out of Tripoli.  

Flight tracking website Flightradar24.com showed some flights still scheduled to land in Tripoli Aug. 15, including Berniq Airways services from Cairo and Benghazi, Libya’s second city. But a Tunisair flight from Tunis was marked as canceled.  

Libya’s previous main international gateway, Tripoli International Airport, was badly damaged during the 2014 civil war. Mitiga International Airport has operated as the country’s main hub since then.

Several Libyan carriers posted updates on flight suspensions and airport changes on social media, including Tripoli-based carriers Medsky Airways, Libyan Airlines, and Afriqiyah Airways, and Benghazi-based Berniq Airways. It is not clear how long flights at Mitiga will remain suspended. 

When asked about the situation in Tripoli, a spokesperson for the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) said Aug. 15: “We are observing the market situation and shall be in a position to comment in due course.”  

A Lufthansa Group spokesperson said the group’s airlines had been avoiding the airspace over Libya for years for security reasons. “Its civilian airport has been closed which was currently no destination of the Lufthansa Group,” the spokesperson said. “Overflights of Libya are offset until further notice, [and] our flights to African destination are partly rerouted, with possible longer flight times.”

A spokesperson for Air France, which does not serve Libyan destinations but flies to many other African cities, told Aviation Daily Aug. 15 it had already been avoiding Libyan airspace, thus the disruption in Tripoli would not lead to any further operational changes. 

For neighboring Niger, where the airspace has been closed, the Air France spokesperson said the airline has suspended flights to the capital city’s Niamey-Diori Hamani airport until further notice. Air France flights are instead operating nonstop between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Lomé, Togo. 

“Following the coup d’état in Niger and because of the geopolitical situation in the Sahel region, Air France is forced to adapt its flight schedule to Niamey [Niger], Bamako [Mali], and Ouagadougou [Burkina Faso],” the spokesperson said. 

“An increase in flight times to and from several sub-Saharan destinations is also to be expected. In conjunction with French authorities, the airline is constantly monitoring the evolution of the geopolitical situation in regions its aircraft serve or overfly,” the airline added, noting that the safety of passengers and crew is its absolute priority.   

Air France has prolonged the suspension of flights to and from Bamako up to and including Aug. 18, the spokesperson said. The airline’s service to Ouagadougou is also suspended through Aug. 18, with the flight operating nonstop between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Accra, Ghana, instead.   

In July, ITA Airways operated the first flight from Italy to Libya in almost a decade as an initial step on the way to restoring nonstop commercial routes between the two countries. The A320 service between Rome Fiumicino and Mitiga International Airport—made up of a delegation of Libyan and Italian government and aviation officials—came less than three weeks after Italy lifted a ban on Libyan civil aviation using Italian airspace.

At that time, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority, ENAC said ITA was considering launching regular operations between the two countries starting from the forthcoming northern winter season. Medsky Airways indicated it was hoping to begin flying to Italy “from next autumn.” And one of Libya’s two prime ministers, Abdul Hamid Al-Dbeibeh, said that his Tripoli-based government would work to open direct flights between Rome and the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.

The most recent EU Air Safety List, published on June 7, says all Libyan air carriers “certified by the authorities with responsibility for regulatory oversight of Libya” remain prohibited from operating to, in and from the EU, including overflights.