Reports that Afiqiyah Airways plans to start regular charter flights to Malta from Misrata and Labraq airports have been confirmed by a senior official in the company.
A twice-weekly service (Sundays and Wednesdays) between Misrata and Malta will start on 5 February and that between Labraq and Malta (Tuesdays and Thursdays) on 9 February.
There will, however, be no Afriqiyah flights between Tripoli’s Mitiga and Malta. This route is currently serviced by Medavia.
Prices are expected to be LD 1,300 for Misrata-Malta return, LD 750 single and LD 1,550 Labraq-Malta return, LD 850 single.
Afriqiyah will start accepting reservations as of 1 February.
The official who confirmed the service stressed that that the company would be operating charter flights.
Although the EU has banned flights between Libya and the EU, this does not cover charters. Airlines from Libya are also banned flying into EU airspace. Prior to 2014, Afriqiyah and Libyan Airlines got round this by wet-leasing aircraft registered elsewhere. It is not clear yet if Afriqiyah will be again doing so. It now has two Airbus A320s which are registered within the EU, in Lithuania.
