TRIPOLI, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Libya's Afriqiyah Airways on Tuesday launched regular direct flights between Tripoli and Damascus, Syria, restoring air connectivity between the two countries after years of suspension, the state-owned carrier announced on its official X account.
The launch came weeks after Syrian Airlines resumed special charter flights to Tripoli's Mitiga International Airport, with its first flight landing on Aug. 17. According to Syrian state television, the flights were organized in response to requests from the Syrian community in Libya, but remain irregular and lack a fixed schedule.
According to Afriqiyah Airways, the new route will operate regularly between Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli and Damascus International Airport, facilitating travel and strengthening air transport links between the two capitals.
Air travel between Libya and Syria was suspended in 2011 after the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime amid NATO intervention and subsequent political and security turmoil in both countries. In the years that followed, efforts to restore flights were limited and largely short-lived, particularly as Libya remained divided between two rival administrations: the UN-recognized Government of National Unity in Tripoli and an eastern-based government backed by the Libyan National Army led by Khalifa Haftar. ■