The committee formed by the head of the Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, to lift the air ban on airports, headed by the Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs, Walid Al-Lafi, discussed with the Ambassador of Italy to Libya, Gianluca Alberini and his accompanying delegation, ways to lift the air ban on Libyan airlines and the resumption of flights between the two countries.
During the meeting, they discussed the latest developments of the joint Libyan-Italian technical teams and the results of the field visit last May, related to checking safety procedures at Libyan airports and the timetable related to opening the airspace and re-running flights between the two countries.
The Italian delegation informed the Libyan side of the Italian government’s decision to lift the Libyan civil aviation ban on Italy, after completing the technical and security requirements.
The two sides agreed to conclude an agreement and a memorandum of understanding, reopen the airspace between the two countries, and choose a Libyan and an Italian air carrier to resume flights to and from Italy no later than next August, provided that the first direct commercial flights from Libya to Italy take off next September.
Al-Lafi confirmed that Prime Minister Dbeibeh attaches utmost importance to this file, as it has positive repercussions on facilitating the travel of Libyan citizens, and supporting the economic relationship between Libya and Italy.
For his part, the Italian ambassador affirmed his country’s determination to continue cooperating with the national unity government to facilitate the lifting of the embargo imposed on Libya over European airspace in general.
The meeting was attended on the Libyan technical side by the head of the Civil Aviation Authority, Mohamed Shlibak and his accompanying technical team, and on the Italian side, the director of the Italian Aviation Corporation and his technical team.