The Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, arrived Monday afternoon in Tripoli, from Rome, on board an Italian Airways flight that is meant to pave the way for a formal resumption of flights to Libya next September following a decade-long hiatus.
Hokoometna platform showed a live coverage of the moments of the Italian Airways plane's arrival at Mitiga Airport, with Dbeibah and his accompanying delegation and a number of travelers coming from Rome on board. He was received by the Minister of Transportation, Mohammed Al-Shahoubi, the Minister-designate of Interior, Emad Al-Trabelsi, the Italian ambassador to Libya, and a number of officials.
Dbeibah told reporters at Mitiga Airport upon his arrival that the flight was a "test flight" for the Italian Airways, saying that commercial flights for Libyans would officially start next September, indicating that his government was working on removing the ban imposed on Libyan flights in European airspace.
"The percentage of approval for granting visas to Libyans has increased to about 75%," Dbeibah said, praising the Italian government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Italian and Libyan civil aviation employees, and the Ministry of Transportation.
Regarding his participation in the International Conference on Immigration and Development in Rome on Sunday, Dbeibah said they had conveyed the voice of the Libyan people to the world in the immigration file and confirmed Libya's position in rejection of resettlement, as well as its right to obtain international political and security support.
In the meantime, Al-Shahoubi said that the government was working on receiving Italian Airways flights at all Libyan airports, and confirmed that Libyan airspace is open to all foreign airliners.
