ITA airways resumes flights to Libya's Tripoli after 10-year gap

Italy's ITA Airways resumed direct flights to Libya's Tripoli on Sunday, the first airline from a major west European nation to do so after a 10-year hiatus due to civil war in the north African country, ITA and Tripoli's transport minister said. ITA said it would operate two direct flights a week from Rome's Fiumicino airport to Tripoli's Mitiga airport. “We are proud to inaugurate today our first direct commercial flight between Tripoli and Rome Fiumicino, strengthening commercial and cultural ties between Libya and Italy in support of bilateral relations between the two countries,” Andrea Benassi, ITA airways general manager, said in a statement. Many international airlines have suspended flights in and out of Libya since the civil war in 2014 that spawned two rival administrations in east and west following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Some airlines resumed flights to Libya after security was restored when major fighting paused with a ceasefire in 2020. But efforts to end the political crisis have failed, with factions occasionally staging armed clashes and competing for control over economic resources.<br/>