JAMAHIRIYA LIBYAN ARAB AIRLINES: P. O. Box 2555, Haiti Street, Tripoli, Libya; Phone 218 (18) 602 083; Fax 218 (21) 602 085; Code LN; Year Founded 1990. Libyan Arab Airlines is renamed in 1990, at the same time assuming the charter services of Jamahiriya Air Transport. The Libyan Arab Airlines marketing name is retained and often is employed in airline directories.
The fleet, inherited from Libyan Arab Airlines, comprises 5 Boeing 707-2L5As, 5 De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otters, 3 Fokker F.28-4000s, 13 F.27-600s, 2 F.27-500s, 1 F.27-400, 21 Ilyushin Il-76s, 4 Lockheed L-100-20 Hercules freighters and 2 Airbus Industrie A310-203s technically leased from Air Algerie, S. A.
Employment stands at 3,798 and enplanements reach 1,803,030 (1,170,731 domestic).
The routes and destinations of the previous carrier are maintained during the remainder of the year and in 1991 the workforce is increased to 5,830. Mohammed Aissa, formerly secretary general, becomes CEO on December 1.
A B-707-351C with 10 crew and 189 passengers, is damaged beyond repair following a takeoff accident at Tripoli on December 7; there are no fatalities.
After a three-year investigation of the Lockerbie tragedy is concluded on November 14 with the Lord Advocate, Scotland’s chief law official, issuing a warrant for the arrest of two Libyans, Abdel Baset Ali Mo-hamed al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah. The two are charged with conspiracy, murder, and contravention of the U. K.’s Aviation Security Act of 1982. A similar indictment is issued by the U. S.Both men are alleged Libyan intelligence agents. The former was Libyan Arab Airlines station manager at Malta at the time of the destruction of the Pan American World Airways (1) Jumbojet, while the other was head of LAA’s security on the island. In December 1988, he is alleged to have purchased clothes in a Maltese store that were contained in the suitcase bomb on board Flight 103.
A seven-year dispute concerning the Lockerbie suspects begins on December 8 when Libya, concerned that the two will not receive a fair trial, refuses to hand the men over.
Two A300B4-622Rs are leased from EgyptAir, S. A.E. in February 1992. The UN Security Council, under Resolution 748, votes sanctions against Libya on April 14 for its refusal to hand over the two men accused of the bombing of the Pan American World Airways (1) B-747 over Scotland in 1988.
Beginning on the next day, company passenger jetliners are turned back in flight and are not permitted to land at Amman, Brussels, Cairo, Casablanca, Damascus, Milan, Vienna, and Zurich. Italian jet fighters are scrambled to turn back the Libyan Boeing about to enter their airspace. Only Nicosia, Cyprus, remains open, but it, too, is closed to the carrier, on April 16. On April 17, Royal Jordanian Airlines stops accepting reservations for its services to Tripoli.
Operations Manager T. Missurati’s Tripoli-based carrier still manages to upgrade its fleet during the remainder of the year, employing the aircraft on domestic services.
Flight 1103, a B-727-2L5A with 10 crew and 147 passengers and en route from Benghazi to Tripoli, collides with a Libyan Air Force MiG 23UB at 3,500 ft. over Soul al-Sabt on December 22 and crashes; all aboard the jetliner are killed, however, the fighter plane crew parachutes to safety.
Replaced through 1993 are several of the Friendships, Twin Otters, B-727-2L5As, and four B-707-3L5Cs. The Ilyushin and Lockheed freighters are transferred to the Air Force and new units purchased include 3 B-737-2L5As, 13 Fokker 50s, 2 Embraer EMB-110 Ban-deirantes, and 1 Cessna 441 Conquest. Although the workforce totals 3,798, only domestic services are flown. International passengers travel by surface transport to Djerba in Tunisia and fly via Tunisair, S. A. Capt. Saleh Ferjani becomes the airlines managing director in April. Libya continues to maintain its position concerning the Lockerbie suspects, despite the tightening of UN sanctions in December.
There are no operational changes in 1994; however, the fleet now includes 2 B-707-3L5Cs, 9 B-727-2L5As, 15 Friendships, and 3 Fellowships. All of these are grounded except for a pair of B-727-2L5As. Joint insurance purchasing begins with Royal Air Maroc.
It is reported in The New York Times on April 14, 1995 that the airline plans to defy the UN ban on international flights to and from the country; the same newspaper also reports that 10 of the carrier’s trimotors and Stratoliners can no longer fly.
On April 19, the UN Security Council eases its three-year-old ban on flights from Libya; it will permit EgyptAir, S. A.E. and other Egyptian airlines to carry Muslim pilgrims to Mecca. The same day, Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi says he will live within the confines of the UNimposed sanctions for failure to turn over the suspects he harbors that are linked to the bombing of PanAm 103 in 1988. He will not defy the international body’s ban on foreign commercial flights by his nation’s airline. EgyptAir, S. A.E. and ZAS Airline of Egypt, Ltd. commence the pilgrim airlift two days later.
The workforce stands at 6,027 in 1996 and despite UN sanctions, the carrier continues to operate a large fleet. Owned units include 12 Il-76TDs, 8 B-727-2L5As, 9 F.27-600s, 5 each Il-76Ts and Il-76Ms, 4 L-382G Hercules freighters, 2 each Grumman G-1159 Gulfstream IIs and Airbus Industrie A310-203s, the latter two leased to Air Algerie, S. A., plus 1 each B-707-3L5C, B-727-224, Dassault Falcon 20C, F.27-400,
F.27-500, L-382E, and L-1329 Jetstar II. In addition, a chartered B-707-351C and Jetstar 8 are also operated.
On April 15, a B-707-3L5C flies Islamic pilgrims without fanfare to Saudi Arabia in violation of the UN ban on Libyan international air travel. The aircraft is allowed to land at Mecca and discharge its passengers.
When a vote comes up at the UN Security Council in November, it is decided to leave the air embargo against Libya in place because of that nation’s continuing failure to cooperate in the investigation of two attacks against airliners. Enplanements for the year total 640,424.
Continuing to defy the UN embargo, the company’s B-707-3L5C with a Libyan foreign ministry delegation aboard, flies from Tripoli to Accra, Ghana, on January 22, 1997.
Just under a year after the previous unauthorized pilgrim incident, the same Boeing Stratoliner is employed on March 29 to carry Muslims on a pilgrim flight to Saudi Arabia. On September 21, the nations of the Arab League, meeting in Cairo, vote to defy UN sanctions by permitting Libyan aircraft transporting Col. Qaddafi to land in their territory and to permit his airline other flights for humanitarian or religious purposes.
Only internal domestic services are provided in 1998. During a meeting with representatives of Lockerbie victims on April 20, Col. Qaddafi apparently agrees to hand over the two bombing suspects for trial by a Scottish judge in a neutral country. In July, the U. K. and U. S. agree that such a judicial action would be acceptable. In November, authorities in The Netherlands set aside a former air force base near Utrecht for the trial. Despite hopes, the hearings do not proceed. Libya balks over where the men might serve their sentences if convicted and refuses to allow them to be imprisoned in Scotland.
On February 25, 1999, Libya and Dubai sign a memorandum of understanding that will allow Jamahiriya and Emirates Airlines, Ltd. to schedule flights between the two countries. Libya, however, remains under UN embargo.
Taking advantage of a UN and U. S. pledge not to attack Iraqi Airways aircraft that have begun to illegally operate Hadj flights for Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia on March 17, the Libyan airline, on March 18, also flies a planeload of pilgrims into Saudi Arabia.
Libya informs the UN on March 22 that it will extradite the two men charged in the Lockerbie bombing and will turn them over to representatives of the world body on or before April 6. In return, the UN Security Council indicates that it will abide by its resolutions to suspend sanctions as soon as the two suspects are received.
South African President Nelson Mandela, who has brokered the arrangement, telephones Col. Qaddafi on March 30 to assure him that their deal for the surrender of the two Libyans suspected in the 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing is going as planned.
Following an elaborate farewell ceremony attended by Qaddafi on April 4, the two suspects depart into UN captivity next day. At the hour they are turned over, the world body’s sanctions against Libya are lifted.
Two aircraft flown by the carrier and Air Malta, Ltd. (2) make commemorative flights into each other’s country on April 6. The special flights, carrying aviation officials from the two countries, are the first to be flown into and out of Libya since the UN lifted air restrictions.
On April 9, Managing Director Mohammed al-Mukhtar Ibssim flies into Egypt on a three-day visit, the first stop on a tour of Arab countries that he is making to study markets and to negotiate with other airlines on possible services that might be provided to the Libyan carrier. At a press conference, it is announced that his company will resume international operations within two weeks and will upgrade its aging fleet.
Piloted by Capt. Mohammad Bureiki, Flight 2821, Managing Director Ibssim’s B-727-2L5A, arrives at Amman on April 14, ending a seven-year break in flights between Jordan and Libya. All aboard are welcomed with flowers, kisses, and ceremonial cake as they disembark. While the airline chief and fellow executives disappear into talks with their Jordanian counterparts, Capt. Bureiki, caught by a Reuters, Ltd. reporter, notes that regularly scheduled service to Amman will resume in two weeks. He also lets it be known that only one other B-727-2L5A is operational, the remainder of the fleet having fallen into disrepair during the long UN-sponsored embargo.
On April 24, the first Libyan aircraft in seven years to fly from Libya to Syria arrives at Damascus. Upon arrival, Capt. Bureiki’s B-727-2L5A deplanes officials from Tripoli’s civil aviation authority and transport ministry. On the last day of the month, flights to Rome are resumed.
The company’s international network is gradually rebuilt during the remainder of the year.
Two leased TransAer International Airlines, Ltd. A320-231s, resplendent in a new color scheme with Arabic titles on the left side of the fuselage and English on the right, are turned over to the Libyan carrier at Marseilles on December 8.
Airline employment at the beginning of 2000 totals 3,798. In addition to its modern Airbus units, the fleet also includes 8 B-727s, 7 Dash-2L5As, and Dash-228. A B-727-224 and a B-727-2L5A have been withdrawn and is being cannibalized for parts. Also operated are several B-707F and Il-76 freighters. Scheduled international destinations visited include Amsterdam, Accra, Kano, and Mali. Flights are also maintained to the domestic communities of Al Bayda, Al Khufrah, Benghazi, Ghadames, Mersa Brega, Misurata, Sebha, Tobruk, and Tripoli.
On January 19, twice-weekly return service, employing A320-231s, is resumed from Tripoli to Rome, along with weekly roundtrips from Tripoli to Milan.
Thrice-weekly A320-231 roundtrips are initiated on January 24 from Tripoli to London (LHR).
A320-231 return service is resumed on June 13 between Tripoli and Tunis. Also during June, weekly all-cargo roundtrips are inaugurated from Ostend, Belgium, to Tripoli and Benghazi, reportedly handled by European Cargo Services, S. A. and operated by a wet-leased Trans Mediterranean Airways, S. A.L. B-707F.
After an eight-year lapse due to the UN embargo, daily A320-231 roundtrips are restarted between Tripoli and Cairo on July 8. Altogether, eight weekly return services will soon be operating from Tripoli, Benghazi, and Sabha to Cairo and Alexandria.
The carrier’s single A310-203 is returned to Airbus on August 15. In its place, two A310-203s are wet-leased from Royal Jordanian Airlines in early October. On October 24, four days after TransAer International Airlines, Ltd. collapses, the Libyan airline seizes the two A320-231s it had chartered from the Irish carrier a year earlier. Both planes are owned by ILFC.
It is announced on December 12 that, after an eight-year suspension, twice-weekly roundtrips will resume on January 1 between Tripoli and Sfax, Tunisia.
Twelve years after the destruction of Pan Am 103 over Scotland and nine months after the beginning of an international $80-million trial in The Netherlands, former Libyan intelligence agent Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi is found guilty of the crime on January 31 and sentenced to life in prison. Former Libyan airline official Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, who had been charged with helping al-Megrahi plant the bomb-laden suitcase at Malta, is found innocent and released.
World History
