— Tripoli (AFP)
A Rome-bound aircraft departed on Saturday from Libya's capital, restarting flights to Italy after a nearly decade-long suspension due to an EU ban, authorities in Tripoli said.
The European Union in 2014 halted flights operated by Libyan airlines and banned them from entering member states' airspace, as the war-torn North African country was mired in intense fighting.
Saturday's flight took off from Tripoli's Mitiga airport. It was operated by Libya-based Medsky Airways, which offers a twice-weekly direct connection to the Italian capital.
Restarting flights is "part of intensive government efforts to lift the European ban on Libyan civil aviation", said Libya's UN-recognised government on Facebook.
