The restart of flights between Malta and the North African country of Libya was one of the topics discussed in a raft of bilateral meetings held over the course of the last two days, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
Consistent scheduled flights between Malta and Libya by Air Malta have been on hold for a number of years now ever since the North African country descended into civil conflict. Only the airline Medavia has been connecting the two countries through a route run by one of its turbo-prop planes.
The prospect of the resumption of flights by Air Malta between the two countries was widely mooted in 2019, with the Tourism Ministry consistently saying that it was an end that they wanted to work towards. However, Covid-19 and a rise in tensions in Libya dashed any hopes of that happening in the short term.
The commitment to restart flights between Malta and Libya was reiterated by the Foreign Ministries of both countries in a joint statement last August.
Now, meetings have seemed to delve further into the nitty gritty, with the Foreign Affairs’ Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Christopher Cutajar meeting Libya’s Director for International Cooperation within the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Eddeb.
According to a government statement, the delegation discussed methods through which both parties can prepare for the resumption of direct flights between Malta and Libya, with the intention being to make it easier for one to arrive and leave from Libya while keeping in mind all the necessary security measures.
“This should lead to a resumption of Libyan investment in Malta and Maltese investment in Libya”, the statement read.
In separate meetings, the delegation met with the Deputy Home Affairs Minister Al Shaibani in order to discuss the migration sector and the agreement signed between Malta and Libya in this regard earlier this year.
In the city of Misurata meanwhile, a meeting with the local government was held, where the prospect of improving Malta’s economic ties with the city by facilitating commerce between the port of Misurata and ports in Malta and by opening a consulate there was discussed.
The meetings took place between 15 and 17 December.