Although no official announcement has been made yet, the much-anticipated reopening of Tripoli Airport (its official name is ‘Mitiga Airport’) is scheduled for Wednesday.

In fact, Turkish Airlines is announcing on its website that it will begin flights to Tripoli from Istanbul as from Wednesday and will be making four flights a week – on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Nothing official has been announced in Tripoli although, according to FlightStats – a track flights status website – there was a flight from Benghazi to Mitiga yesterday at around noon. The flight was by an Airbus freighter for Madina Air.

Neither has anything been announced with regard to Air Malta, despite the much-reiterated eagerness of the airline – in dire economic straits – to resume its flights to Tripoli and maybe add flights to Benghazi and other airports in Libya.

Contacted by this newspaper, Minister Tonio Fenech said yesterday: “That is a prospect we are pursuing and I hope that, in the coming days, Air Malta will be able to resume flights to Tripoli.

“The issue is more one of security at Tripoli airport. The Foreign Ministry is in a position to issue visas and will also hopefully be able to do so from Benghazi as well, soon.”

Anyone searching for flights from Malta to Libya will search in vain on Air Malta’s website, as any reference to Tripoli has been erased.

Air Malta last flew to Tripoli in the early days of the revolt when the airport was besieged by thousands of people wanting to get out.