Tripoli flights suspended

Tripoli, Libya

Jat Airways has suspended services to the Libyan capital, Tripoli, as a bombing campaign against the country continues. During the weekend a no fly zone was implemented over the North African nation. Jat carried out its last service to Tripoli last Thursday. The airline planned to introduce another weekly flight to the city from next week, which would have brought the total number of weekly services to the Libyan capital to 2. Jat, along with Air Malta, was the only European airline not to suspend scheduled services to the country until the implementation of the no fly zone, despite widespread violence.

According to the daily “Politika”, during the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, 4 of Jat’s aircraft were safe guarded at Tripoli Airport. The daily also reports that on Jat’s final service to Tripoli last Thursday there were few passengers on board. Jat operated 5 special evacuation flights several weeks ago for Serbian citizens.

Flights to Tripoli operated via Malta. Services to Malta have also been cancelled until May when they are expected to restart twice per week.

Recently, flights between Tunisia and Serbia resumed after several months. Tunisair has been forced to join its Vienna and Belgrade service due to poor loads. The airline currently operates flights to from Tunis to Belgrade via Vienna. Starting with the 2011 summer season, Tunisair will operate scheduled flights from Tunis and Enfidha to Belgrade, while Jat will operate service to Monastir.