Libya's Oya Int'l Airline secures AOC, launches

UAE's Sky One to acquire stake in Libya's FLY OYA

Sky One has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to acquire a "substantial stake" in Libya's FLY OYA (YI, Tripoli Mitiga) subject to final terms negotiations. The Sharjah-based holding did not disclose the exact size of the stake or the value of the transaction.

"FLY OYA is a significant property with sizeable assets that we have acquired. We see FLY OYA as an integral part of our journey to enhance our aviation offering throughout the globe," Chairman Jaideep Mirchandani said.

The Libyan carrier operates one A320-200 and one A330-200 (leased from Sky One). Besides domestic flights within Libya, it also proffers scheduled services from Tripoli Mitiga to Tunis, Istanbul Airport, Alexandria Borg el Arab, and Dubai World Central, and from Misurata to Tunis.

During the same press conference at the Dubai Airshow 2023, Sky One announced the acquisition of a Romanian groundhandling provider Uplift Airport Services, which is active at Bucharest Henri Coanda, Cluj-Napoca, Bacau, and Iasi airports.

Besides owning and...

Clashes force airlines to move from Tripoli to Misurata

A flare-up of violence between two rival factions controlling Libya's capital, Tripoli, has forced airlines to temporarily relocate operations from Tripoli Mitiga to Misurata.

Libyan Wings (YL, Tripoli Mitiga) suspended all flights from Tripoli on August 14, moving all four of its A319-100 to Misurata. The carrier operated a single flight from Tripoli to Istanbul Airport on August 15, but the return leg was diverted to Misurata. However, as the clashes calmed down, the airline announced that flights from the capital would resume on August 16. Libyan Airlines (LN, Tripoli Mitiga) is also returning to Tripoli on August 16 after one day of operating from Misurata.

Afriqiyah Airways (8U, Tripoli Mitiga) and Berniq Airways (NB, Benghazi) relocated all of their Tripoli flights to Misurata on August 15-16 and have yet to announce a return to the capital airport.

FLY OYA (YI, Tripoli Mitiga) moved its August 15 departures to Misurata but restarted flights from Tripoli the day after. The events forced the carrier...

Editorial Comment: The article updates with Tunisair's suspension. - 16.08.2023 - 13:47 UTC

Libya's FLY OYA takes first A320

FLY OYA (YI, Tripoli Mitiga) took delivery of its first A320-200, which is also its first narrowbody aircraft, on December 28, 2022.

The 14.9-year-old 5A-EMA (msn 3418) was ferried from Cairo International to Tripoli Mitiga. It was acquired by Sky One earlier this year and subsequently leased to Romania's Aerro Direkt (Bucharest Henri Coanda). However, despite plans to run the aircraft under ACMI and charter contracts, the Romanian airline ferried it to Cairo for maintenance shortly after registering it in Romania and subsequently retired it from its fleet without having ever flown it commercially.

FLY OYA said it would use the aircraft to "open new destinations" but did not offer any details.

The Libyan carrier, which has been active since April 2022, currently operates a single in-house A330-200, which has been in storage at Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen since July 2022. Since then, the carrier has been wet-leasing a unit of the same type from Egypt's Ajwaa Airlines (AJY, Cairo International)....

Libya's Fly Oya to start UAE flights