Libya’s Benghazi airport re-opens after 3-year shutdown

Libya’s Benghazi’s international airport (Benina) has commenced commercial flights, signaling official re-opening of the airport after a three-year closure, amid heavy security presence.

The first outward bound flights from Benina Airport were to the capital, Tripoli, to Amman, Jordan, and to the southeastern Libyan city of Kufra. Flights are also scheduled to and from Tunis, Istanbul, Alexandria, and the western Libyan city of Zintan.

The airport, it would be recalled was closed due to fighting in the city in the summer of 2014. However, in recent months, some cargo flights and official flights had been flying from the newly re-opened airport.

Flights have since operated out of the smaller Mitiga airport near the centre of the capital since Tripoli’s international airport was badly damaged by fighting in 2014.

Abdallah Alshafeey, Director of the Benina airport said though some equipment are missing, the facilities are 90 percent ready. He however assured that the airport will be perfect after receiving the equipment.

The current flights at the airport are operated by two state-owned companies, Afriqiyah Airways and Libyan Airlines