Direct flights set to resume between Libya’s east, Turkey
Airplanes are seen at Mitiga airport after an air strike in Tripoli, Libya, April 8, 2019. (Reuters Photo)


The state-run Libyan Airlines is set to resume direct flights from the country's east to Turkey after more than seven-year hiatus.

"Next Tuesday, the first direct Libyan Airlines flight from Benina Airport in Benghazi to Sabiha Airport in Istanbul (will be launched), with two flights per week," Arafat Al-Barghathi of the Libyan flag carrier said in a statement.

On Thursday, an official at the Benina International Airport told local media that the privately owned Libyan Barneq Airlines will operate its first flights from Benina Airport to Istanbul Airport after Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic month of fasting, Ramadan.

While there are weekly flights between Libya's west and Turkey, flights from airports in the east of the country have been suspended since 2014 due to armed conflict in the region coupled with a dispute between Ankara and the Benghazi-based administration at the time.

On Jan. 29, Turkish Ambassador to Libya Kanaan Yilmaz told Anadolu Agency following a visit to Benghazi that he discussed with the Libyan side the resumption of Turkish Airlines flights to the city.