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Libya witnessed a surge in commercialflights two years ago as expatriates andoil workers flocked to ripoli, eager tocontribute to and profit rom thepost-revolution recovery. With Muam-mar Gaddafi out o the way, hopes were

high that the country would transition to a prosperous,peaceul democracy. Flag-carriers Libyan Airlinesand Ariqiyah Airways picked up most o the surgingtraffic, competing with oreign airlines such as British

Airways, Lufhansa, Alitalia, Emirates Airline andEtihad Airways.

Passenger demand was so buoyant that, in Novem-ber , a group o local investors unveiled LibyanWings, a start-up airline that planned to launch domes-tic, regional and intercontinental flights. Te companypaid deposits or three widebody Airbus As andour smaller Aneos.

All seemed well in the aviation sector, and then thecalendar rolled over to . As fight ing broke out be-tween the myriad groups that had helped to dethroneGaddafi, Libya slowly ractured. By the middle o theyear, Fajr Libya, a coalition o Islamist militias, haddriven the internationally-recognised government toexile in the eastern city o obruk. Its assault guttedripoli International Airport, severely damaging thecontrol tower, terminal building and about aircraf.en more planes were destroyed outright.

With the hub still in ruins, all flights to the capitalnow operate out o Mitiga International Airport, a

ormer US airbase located near the city centre. ra-fic is meagre. Just two oreign carriers, unisair andMedavia, fly to the gateway, compared with beorethe / revolution. Even urkish Airlines nostranger to conflict zones given its daily service toMogadishu now deems ripoli too dangerous. In thisclimate, many pundits u nderstandably wrote off LibyanWings as a lost cause. But they spoke too soon. Afernearly two years o delays, the airline took to the skiesthis September with a leased A. Tough its inaugu-ral Istanbul service was quickly suspended urkey

Above: Between the2010/2011 revolutionand the 2013/2014 civilwar, 13 foreign airlinesflew into Libya. Thenumber today is two.

imposed new visa requirements immediately afer thelaunch chie executive Edgardo Badiali persevered.Flights to unis ollowed in October, and at the timeo writing Khartoum was poised to join the network.

Te signs in Libya at the moment are very positive,Badiali insists. Tere is huge potential. I the countrysettles down, besides t he big need [or air travel] oLibyans living at home and abroad, you also have allthe demand o oreign investors, rebuilding workers,and so on.

Afer years o delays, a Libyan airline

is finally taking to the skies.

76 Arican Business December 2015 December 2015

Odd choice?Prioritising flights to Sudan may seem an odd choicegiven the ar-reaching international sanctions againstthe country, but much has changed since LibyanWings first drew up its business plan. Te EuropeanUnion (EU) now bans all Libyan carriers rom enter-ing its airspace, insisting that local regulators are un-able to conduct saety oversight in the midst o a civilwar. With air routes to Cairo also closed or politicalreasons, Khartoum has become a popular stopover orEgyptian labourers seeking work in Libya.

Morocco, Algeria and Jordan are now being linedup or route launches, though Badiali stresses t hat se-curing bilateral designations is a long-winded processin the Middle East and North Arica (MENA). Its alittle bit more time-demanding than in a European

or American environment, he says, citing the needto hire General Sales Agents in each overseas market.

Notwithstanding the hurdles thrown down byBrussels, Europe remains firmly in the crosshairs.When Libyas flag-carriers agreed to a voluntary EUban in beore being ormally placed on theblacklist in they began using wet-lease agree-ments to preserve European connectivity. Tese dealsinvolve contracting oreign operators to provide air-craf and crew or flights across the Mediterranean.As a stopgap solution, wet-leases are highly effective.

But they are a lso costly, and ew w

will agree to park their assets in Ariqiyah ound a way around thwhen it briefly obtained a flag o coIrelands Air Contractors. Under thment, two o Ariqiyahs As haswitched to Ireland, even while ththe legal ownership o the Libyanincorporating elements o a wet-lnership allowed Air Contractors tand Europe with Ariqiyahs metalto mimic the arrangement or Lib

Tere are quite a number o [wet-lease] operators which can dit as a kind o hybrid system with classic ACMI under your responsBecause we would guarantee thcould easily base the aircraf in r

Having partnered with a classiderwriter on the London insuranWings should have little difficulty s

o convenience or European conless, route launches to the continto finalise. Our first step is to network, and then we can start tooptions [or Europe], Badiali insto make sure we have a good posit

Government-led talks with ureconstruct ripoli International Awhile reached an advanced staor an eventual move to the primathat happens, Badiali has visionbecoming an intercontinental huo Europe, Arica and the Middle

Keeping his eye firmly on the loexecutive also sees potential orestablish itsel as a digital pioneelethargic aviation sector. Te comheavily in mobile channels, mindularity o handheld-devices amongyouth. Its their daily bread, he

there is a banking system, mobile effective We can position ourselas an innovative company in this

Back in the present day, howeveare vast and unnerving. Te coureasonable measures, become a athat all local ventures are beholdewarring actions. We have to be aBadiali says o t he airlines prospagenda dictates the commercial o

Aviation

Ourfirst stepis to settleour MENAnetwork,and then wecan start toinvestigatevariousoptions.

The estimated cost ofreconstructing TripoliInternational Airportis $70-$215m. $215

Libyan Wingstakes off