On the morning of Tuesday 13 June I presented myself at the check-in desk to board flight KM694 travelling to Tripoli. When I handed my passport and ticket to the Air Malta employee at the check-in, she leafed through my passport and then handed it back to me asking if I had a visa to enter Libya.

Eventually, I found my last residence visa, which I knew had expired on 20 February, and also one emergency exit re-entry visa, which of course, is also issued by the Libyan immigration office and with which I had successfully used to enter and leave Libya after 20 February for the purpose of employment. I also showed her the current emergency exit re-entry visa that had permitted me to leave Libya on 18 May and would allow me to re-enter Libya that day. These emergency exit re-entry visas have been around for at least three years. They are legal and valid visas issued by the Libyan immigration department to allow expat workers to carry out their work and rest rotations while the paperwork for their residence visa, which has to be renewed annually, is being processed.

Nothing doing, she still insisted that I didn’t have a valid visa and she would not allow me on the plane because if I were sent back she would be fined by Air Malta. At this point she took my passport to show it to her supervisor and consult with her. I breathed a sigh of relief. The supervisor would know all about visas, this mess would be sorted out and I would be allowed on the plane.

Then came the second surprise of the day; the decision of the supervisor, who never came to speak to me directly at the check-in desk, was that unless I immediately bought a return ticket Tripoli to Malta I would be “offloaded”. I still have to check if offloading can be used as a polite term for passengers as well as luggage. At this point, the time had arrived for the check-in to close. I had visions of what would happen if I did not board the flight – the other doctor would not be allowed to leave our work location in the desert as safety rules demand. Then he would miss his flight from the desert to Tripoli, as well as his flights going home and his plans for his break would be disrupted. I had no choice but to buy a ticket in order to be allowed to board a flight for which my company had already paid. Not only, the cherry on the cake was that it was not just a return ticket Tripoli – Malta, but a full round trip ticket Malta – Tripoli – Tripoli – Malta because my point of origin was Malta.

I was in a fix. Credit cards are no use where I work in the desert so I did not have one on me and I didn’t have enough cash to pay for the ticket. Nor was there time to ring home and ask someone to bring the cash. Then I had an idea. I had travelled at least 42 times on this Malta – Tripoli flight over the past seven years and still had more than enough flypass points to pay for a return ticket to Tripoli. I explained my situation to the lady at the desk and offered to pay for the ticket with these points. Nothing doing, they would not accept this either. So much for using Air Malta flights 42 times and accumulating a zillion flypass points.

At this point I thought of one final thing to try before I lost the flight. I rang C. Stivala Ltd, as they frequently handled travel arrangements for the company I work for. They were kind enough to help me out by authorising the Air Malta sales department to issue a ticket for me debited to their account. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their help that day.

Finally, carrying an extra full fare round trip ticket I didn’t need and with my blood pressure high enough to blow the mercury out of the sphygmo, I was allowed to board this already paid for return flight. I arrived in Libya and passed through immigration using my emergency exit re-entry visa without any problems. Since I have been back in Libya I have heard of other incidences, which have confirmed that on other occasions some of the staff at the check in to the Tripoli flight did not have a clue about what is or is not a valid visa.

This is the point I would like to make.

If Air Malta does not want to take the word of a passenger, who has travelled to and from Libya 42 times during the past seven years, that he has a valid visa then it’s about time, after all these years serving the Malta Tripoli route, that they get their act together and put someone at the check-in who knows what a valid visa looks like. Instructing them to “offload” passengers with a valid visa and forcing them to buy a full fare round trip ticket just in case they are sent back is highly unfair, humiliating and probably not legal. Such actions could have severe consequences, particularly on the businessman or worker travelling to Libya. Air Malta should be aware that for example if they do not allow a passenger on a flight and his residence visa expires while he is in Malta, that is, outside Libya, this would leave that person without the possibility of returning to his job in Libya.

I look forward to an explanation from Air Malta for such happenings.

Joe Galea

PEMBROKE