By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 2 February 2014:
Libyan registered planes could resume flying to the European Union by March this year, Captain Nasereddin . . .[restrict]Shaebelain Director General of the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority (LYCAA) said today at an aviation conference in Tripoli.
Shaebelain revealed that a verification team had arrived in Tripoli today from the EU to be updated on the progress achieved by LYCAA.
The Director General of LYCAA confirmed that his organization had been receiving help in raising standards from an international partner. He also was at pains to stress that the ban was a self-imposed voluntary ban offered by Libya in 2011. The ban was not a ban on Libya per se, he explained, but a ban on individual Libyan aviation companies.
This means, Shaebelain further added, that individual Libyan aviation companies will be judged on their merits and progress on raising and meeting the various high EU standards that Libya had, once again, voluntarily signed up to.
He was optimistic that the ban could be lifted on either of the two largest passenger carriers, Libyan Airlines or Afriqiyah by March.
He explained that the issues with qualifications and standards are a legacy that had been accumulating since the 2000’s and not purely a post 2011 issue.
It will be recalled that in November there was a review of the progress made by Libyan aviation companies and it was decided that while there was progress, the self-imposed flight ban on Libyan registered carriers to the EU would be kept in place.
The restrictions have meant that Libyan Airlines and Afriqiyah continue to service their European routes with wet-leased aircraft and crew. [/restrict]
