Afriqiyah Airways (8U, Tripoli Mitiga) has acquired a 20% stake in the Aviation Training Center of Tunisia (ATCT) following a signing ceremony late last week.

The value of the shareholding, acquired from two Tunisian banks, was not disclosed.

The acquisition will allow the Libyan state-owned carrier to both diversify its revenue streams as well as reduce pilot training costs. At present, over 150 of its flight crews must head to Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) in Germany for annual instruction and simulator time at significant cost to the airline.

Other shareholders in ATCT include: Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac), Thales Group, Nouvelair (BJ, Monastir), and Tunisair (TU, Tunis).