Afriqiyah Airways has suspended flights to Turkey due to the accumulated debts of the company in Istanbul, which is estimated to be millions of dollars, according to a statement by the airways.

The spokesman for Afriqiyah Airways, Imran Zabadi, said Friday that the airways will run two flights to Istanbul airport in order to return the stranded passengers there, while the rest of passengers who have booked with the airlines will be returned to the homeland via other airline companies in coordination with Afriqiyah Airway.

Zabadi explained that the reason behind suspending the flights to Turkey is the obstacles set by the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) to transfer the receivables of the handling companies and ground services at Istanbul airport.

In a previous statement, Afriqiyah Airways held the CBL the responsibility for the status of the airways by denying it to transfer foreign currency to repay its debts.

It also blamed the Libyan-African Aviation Holding Company for failing to fulfil its obligations by completing the procedures for transferring the amounts required to the concerned parties.

Earlier, Afriqiyah Airways explained that it had informed the government of the Presidential Council of the problems facing the airways, including the lack of spare parts, the accumulated debts for the services at foreign airports and for the International Air Transport Association IATA.