Italian Airways (ITA) has carried out its first flight to Libya – Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport – after a suspension of ten years, the Government of National Unity (GNU) has confirmed.
According to the GNU’s media platform, Hakoometna, the flight on Monday was a trial one that would serve to pave the way for regular commercial flights between Rome and Tripoli in next September.
The Libyan Prime Minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, posted on Facebook a photo of him boarding the first flight from Rome to Tripoli, wishing Libyans a better and prosperous future.
Dbeibah, a number of GNU officials, and the Head of the Presidential Council, Mohammed Menfi, arrived in Rome on Sunday and attended the Conference on Immigration and Development, discussing necessary cooperation steps with stakeholders to tackle the challenges created by the influxes of illegal immigrants.
Prior to convening the Conference, the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, announced a bundle of aids to Libya and Niger as part of the fight against illegal immigration in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Tajani explained, according to a statement by the Italian Foreign Ministry on Saturday, that Rome allocated 8.5 million euros for three projects in Libya and 7.5 million euros for three projects in Niger with the aim of curbing illegal immigrants’ influxes to Europe.
