By Houda Mzioudet.
Tunis, 31 May 2016:
Reports by senior Libyan figure that Libyan carriers will again be allowed to use Tunis-Carthage airport . . .[restrict]as of tomorrow, 1 June, have been discounted by Tunisian aviation officials.
Asked today if flights would begin tomorrow, a public relations official with the Tunisian civil aviation authority OACA said that the government had made no order as yet to lift the ban.
“We have no exact date of their resumption and we will publish a statement on the matter,” he said.
Earlier this month, when Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid met the head of the Presidency Council Faiez Serraj in Tripoli and a week later then when Sarraj had talks in Tunis with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi,
the Libyan authorities reported the Tunisians saying that Libyan carriers would be able to use Tunis-Carthage from the end of May.
Libyan airlines were blocked from landing in all Tunisian airport apart from Sfax last December, citing security concerns after a deadly suicide attack in Tunis. The ban was then eased but Tunis-Carthage has remained off-limits to Libya carriers till now. Passengers wishing to fly to Libya have to use Monastir airport, a good two hours’ drive from the Tunisian capital.
There were claims news on social media that OACA tried to reach a deal with its Libyan counterpart by rerouting flights from Libyan airports to an airport in the greater Tunis area but the Libyans are said to have refused. [/restrict]
