First Tripoli-Benghazi flight in one-and-a-half years receives big welcome

After a hiatus of one-and-a-half years, the first flight from Tripoli to Benghazi’s Benina airport materialized last week. The maiden resumption flight has received much social media speculation over the last few weeks. It was greeted with the fanfare of a maiden flight at Benina airport.

The Afriqiyah flight carried a delegation from the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority, the Libyan Airports Authority and Afriqiyah airlines itself. The delegation is to conduct an inspection of the airport in preparation for the resumption of commercial flights.

It will be recalled that flights were interrupted after the attack by Khalifa Haftar on Tripoli in April 2019. Local civilians in eastern Libya are desperate for the resumption of flights to ease travel, especially for medical tourism.

The flight reflects a thaw in political tension between western and eastern Libya.

It will be recalled that the manager of Benina airport had announced that his airport was in need of a long list of items that needed resolving before commercial flights could resume.