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What does the resumption of air flights between Italy and Libya mean?

10 months ago babelfish

What does the resumption of air flights between Italy and Libya mean?

Italy has lifted the ban on Libyan flights in Italian airspace: thus, after ten years, direct flights to and from Libya resume

Direct flights to and from Libya resume after ten years of ban. This is the decision taken on Sunday by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who has made the Libyans talk about a beneficial turnaround for a country that for many years has only been connected with a handful of nations in the Middle East.

The announcement

It was Giorgia Meloni who informed her Libyan counterpart, the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity of Tripoli Abdulhamid Dabaiba, of Rome's decision to remove the ban on Libyan flights in Italian airspace launched ten years ago when the North African country was more than ever in the grip of chaos.

Dabaiba immediately rushed to Twitter, hailing the news – which in the meantime was being beaten by Reuters and the Associated Press – as a "turning point" for Libya.

"The Italian government – were the words of the Libyan premier reported by Agenzia Nova – has informed us of its decision to remove the ban on air transit imposed ten years ago on Libyan civil aviation … I thank Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and I appreciate the efforts made by the transport sector, by the special commission and by all those who have contributed to this turning point which will facilitate the movement of our citizens".

According to the decision taken by the two governments, direct flights to and from Italy will resume from September and will be managed by two companies, one Italian and one Libyan. However, it was not specified which specific airports will be affected.

In any case, starting from September, the Bel Paese will be added to the meager list of destinations reachable by air from Libya (Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Tunisia and Turkey).

The meeting in Tripoli with the ENAC president

The Italian government's decision, specifies Agenzia Nova , comes after months of intensified cooperation between the Italian and Libyan transport authorities, which provided data on air traffic at the country's airports.

But the turning point was above all Sunday's meeting in Tripoli between ENAC President Pierluigi Di Palma, the President of the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority Mohamed Shlebik, the Libyan Minister of State Walid al Lafi and the Italian Ambassador Gianluca Alberini .

The details and two photos of the meeting were released by the Twitter profile of the Italian embassy in Libya, which announced that the participants “discussed together the forthcoming restart of direct flights and the strengthening of collaboration. A close Italian-Libyan partnership is confirmed on the civil aviation dossier.

Milestone towards normalization?

Therefore, everything seems to indicate the imminent end of Libya's isolation, in a development that also reflects the optimism on the intra-Libyan dialogue after the achievement of an agreement on the electoral process which will have to lead to the inauguration of a new Parliament and a new President.

Even if it is too early to claim victory, considering that there are many obstacles to overcome in the normalization process of a divided country like Libya, the Italian government's decision is certainly an encouragement to push in that direction.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/voli-diretti-italia-libia/ on Tue, 11 Jul 2023 05:48:10 +0000.