► UNITED KINGDOM: Libyan Airlines resumes Heathrow flights; hopes for removal from EU Ban List at upcoming safety review.

Libyan carrier, Libyan Airlines (LN), yesterday (Wednesday 14 November) resumed twice weekly flights between Tripoli and London Heathrow, UK using an Airbus A320. In September, the carrier resumed its Tripoli, Libya - Manchester, United Kingdom service that was suspended in 2011 due to the Libyan Civil War. 

► LIBYA: Air Libya gets two B737-400s; an ARJ-100 set to arrive shortly.

Air Libya (7Q), the private Libyan carrier formerly known as Tibesti Air Libya, has announced the lease of 2 Boeing B737-400 for use on its daily Benghazi - Alexandria, Egypt flights.

►► LIBYA: Afriqiyah announces Paris, Casablanca, Rome, Khartoum, Dubai from December.

Libyan carrier, Afriqiyah (8U), has announced plans to launch various new routes ex-Tripoli and ex-Benghazi effective 1 December.

► LIBYA: Afriqiyah orders 4 more A350-900s in preparation for future US, Asia route launches.

Libya's Afriqiyah Airways (8U) has announced an increase in its Airbus A350 XWB fleet with a new firm order for four A350-900s. The carrier has also converted its original order for six Airbus A350-800s into six of the larger A350-900 model bringing Afriqiyah’s total number of the type on order to ten Airbus A350-900s. 

► EGYPT: Midwest set to start scheduled domestic flights in early 2013 with Libya, Saudi Arabia to follow.

Egyptian charter airline Midwest Airlines (MY) is to venture into the domestic Egyptian scheduled flight market with the launch of flights between Cairo and Alexandria effective early January 2013.

■ LIBYA: Afriqiyah to remove "infamous 9s" livery in coming weeks.

Libyan carrier, Afriqiyah (8U), have announced via their official twitter account that their next aircraft to arrive in November, will arrive in the carrier's new colours; "the infamous 9s finally being removed." No previews of the new colour scheme have been revealed, though it is said to be "independence flag related."

►► LIBYA: Emirates cancels intended Tripoli service resumption.

[UPDATED 3 OCTOBER 2012] Emirates (EK) are to restart their service from Dubai to Tripoli, Libya that was suspended in February of last year due to the Libyan Uprising. The flights will recommence on 29 October 2012 with a 4x weekly Airbus A330-200 service that will switch to an Airbus A340-300 from 2 January 2013.

► BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA: Libya's Buraq Air tipped for minority shareholding in B&H Airlines.

Tripoli based Buraq Air (UZ), a private Libyan airline that operates scheduled domestic and international services to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, has been tipped as the most likely candidate to acquire a 49% in Bosnian airline BH Airlines (JA).

● NIGER: Remembering UTA Flight UT772, twenty three years ago today.

Today marks the 23rd anniversary of the bombing of UTA Flight 772 on 19 September 1989, a somewhat forgotten incident that bears strong similarity with a larger, more widely publicized bombing that occurred a year earlier; that of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in December 1988.

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 "N54629" UTA772

► UNITED KINGDOM: Libyan Airlines resumes Manchester flights.

Though previously scheduled to have started from 14 September 2012, today marked the resumption of Libyan Airlines' (LN) Tripoli, Libya - Manchester, United Kingdom service that was suspended in 2011 due to the Libyan Civil War. The flight is operated using a leased Tunisian Nouvelair Airbus A320, as both Afriqiyah and Libyan Airlines are banned from flying into EU airspace over concerns about aircraft maintenance documentation and personnel certification.

► LIBYA: Optimistic Afriqiyah orders more A330s, but post-Gaddafi where to?

Following the recent Farnborough Airshow in the United Kingdom, Libyan carrier Afriqiyah (8U), has announced plans to convert a previous order of 3 Airbus A321s into an order for A330s in a sign that the carrier is slowly but surely returning to the international scene.

► LIBYA: Turkish Airlines to start Sebha effective September 2012.

Starting 2 September 2012, Turkish Airlines (TK) continues its aggressive push into Africa, this time with the announcement of a new 3x weekly flight between Istanbul and Sebha, Libya to be serviced with an Airbus A320. At present Turkish Airlines operates a fairly extensive Libyan network with flights offered to Tripoli, Benghazi and Misurata.

Turkish Airlines' Libya Network

Turkish Airlines: Istanbul, Turkey - Sebha, Libya

-Effective 2 September 2012

• TK641 IST0945 – 1215SEB 320 247
• TK642 SEB1310 – 1730IST 320 247

Source [AirlineRoute]

As previously reported by The African Aviation Tribune, Turkish Airlines will shortly commence flights to Kinshasa, DRC and to Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

► ITALY: Alitalia announces operational changes to Africa network.

Italian carrier Alitalia (AZ) has announced operational changes to its Africa network, effective Summer (Europe) 2012.

► TUNISIA: Syphax Airlines announces Summer schedule changes; outlines new routes.

Newly founded Tunisian carrier Syphax Airlines (FS) has announced changes to its Summer timetable effective 5 July 2012.

Founded in 2011 and based in the coastal city of Sfax by businessman Mohamed Frikha, Syphax Airlines is a scheduled airline serving destinations in the Mediterranean with plans to increase its presence in both the Magreb region of Africa and Europe in the near future, amongst which will see Nice and Lyon in France being connected with Sfax, Tunisia a whilst Casablanca - Tunisia service is also in the pipeline.

Syphax Airlines Route Map

● Syphax Airlines Summer 2012 Timetable ●

Djerba, Tunisia – Paris CDG, France 
2x weekly service operating since 18JUN12

• FS110 DJE1510 – 1900CDG 319 14
• FS111 CDG1225 – 1410DJE 319 14

Sfax, Tunisia – Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, Turkey
Operational days moving from Day 47 to Day 26 (SFA departure)

• FS212 SFA1635 – 2055SAW 319 26
• FS213 SAW2155 – 2220SFA 319 26

Sfax, Tunisia – Marseille, France
Service operates twice weekly instead of planned 3x weekly

• FS210 SFA0715 – 1000MRS 319 25
• FS211 MRS1045 – 1125SFA 319 25

Sfax, Tunisia – Paris CDG, France
Service operates 5x weekly instead of planned daily

• FS100 SFA0745 – 1125CDG 319 x267
• FS100 SFA1030 – 1410CDG 319 7
• FS101 CDG2000 – 2135SFA 319 14
• FS101 CDG2030 – 2205SFA 319 35
• FS101 CDG2215 – 2350SFA 319 7

Sfax, Tunisia – Tripoli, Libya
3x weekly service entered operation since early-June 2012

• FS250 SFA2250 – 0025+1TIP 319 135
• FS251 TIP0110 – 0050SFA 319 246

Tunis, Tunisia – Paris CDG, France
Service operates 3x weekly instead of planned daily

• FS104 TUN1555 – 1930CDG 319 35
• FS104 TUN1740 – 2115CDG 319 7
• FS105 CDG1225 – 1355TUN 319 35
• FS105 CDG1510 – 1640TUN 319 7

Routes to be launched in the near future:

• Sfax, Tunisia – Lyon, France: 3x weekly (previously due to start from 7 May 2012)
• Sfax, Tunisia – Nice, France: 2x weekly (previously due to start from 10 May 2012)
• Sfax – Tunis – Casablanca, Morocco: 2x weekly (previously due to start from 22 May 2012)
• Tunis – Lyon 3x weekly (previously due to start 7 May 2012)

Read More Here [Airline Route]

Presently, Syphax Airlines' fleet consists of two Airbus A319s.

► LIBYA: Afriqiyah launches Amman flights; most 8U 771 families compensated.

Libyan airline, Afriqiyah (8U), has expanded its renewed network to now include flights between both Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya and Amman, Jordan using an Airbus A320.

► EGYPT & LIBYA: More derelict WW2 aircraft discovered in The Sahara.

Whilst going through the international press this last week, we at The Tribune came across a piece in the UK's Daily Mail that we found rather interesting. 

The derelict Kittyhawk in the Sahara (Daily Mail)

During a prospecting mission for oil in the Western Desert (part of the Sahara) Egypt, a oil worker recently came across a derelict Royal Air Force Kittyhawk P-40, that, given its age and location, was in reasonably good condition.

The aircraft itself, flown at the time by Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping,  went down in June 1942, during the North African Campaign fought between the legendary "Desert Fox" German General Erwin Rommel and British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery.

It seems Copping was attempting to make his way home, only to lose his bearings, and ultimately, crash land in what is literally, the middle of nowhere. From what has been seen lying around the crash site, he then took what he could salvage from the damaged fighter, and wandered off into the desert, never to be seen again. 

The cockpit of the plane (Daily Mail)

Since the crash site is about 200 miles from the nearest town and no human remains have been found at the site, its believed that the pilot’s decomposed body may lay anywhere within a 20 mile radius of the aircraft (Copping is not known to have any close living relatives).

But this isn't the first time the Sahara has been a repository for abandoned aircraft.

In February 1959, a British Petroleum oil exploration team discovered the nearly intact "Lady Be Good", a USAF American B-24D Liberator, 448 miles southeast of Soluch, again in the untravelled Western Desert. 

Investigation at the crash site confirmed that the crew had bailed out after exhausting their fuel.after returning from an April 4, 1943 bombing raid on Naples, Italy as part of the 514th Bomb Squadron, 376th Bomb Group. At the time, the plane was assumed to have crashed into the Mediterranean Sea and its nine crew members were classified as Missing in Action.

The USAF Bomber "Lady Be Good" found in 1959, Libya

The Lady Be Good apparently overflew its base and did not see flares fired to attract its attention and continued into the interior of North Africa for two more hours. At 2 a.m., the crew parachuted to the ground and the Lady Be Good continued on for 26 km (16 miles) more with no one aboard and crash-landed in the Calanshio Sand Sea of the Libyan Desert. A search and rescue mission from Soluch Air Base to find the missing bomber was unsuccessful and no trace of the crew or aircraft was found.

After the crew abandoned the aircraft in mid air, it continued flying southward. The mostly intact wreckage and evidence showing one engine was still operating at the time of impact suggests the aircraft gradually lost altitude in a very shallow descent, reached the flat, open desert floor and landed on its belly.

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Upon rediscovery of the wreckage in 1959, despite the plane being broken into two pieces, it was immaculately preserved, with functioning machine guns, a working radio, and some supplies of food and water. A thermos of tea was found to be drinkable. No human remains were found on board the aircraft, nor were parachutes found. Evidence aboard the plane indicated that the men had bailed out. Records in the log of navigator Lieutenant Hays, who was on his very first combat mission, ended at Naples. 

No human remains were found at the crash site, but in February 1960, the United States Army conducted a formal search for the remains of the airmen, and five were found. Finding evidence that three other crew members had continued walking northward to seek help, the exploration concluded their bodies were likely buried beneath sand dunes.

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► LIBYA: Air Malta to resume Benghazi from 29 May 2012.

As Libya's political and national security continue to show signs of further stability, so too are more and more airlines expressing interest in reopening routes that were closed at the onset of the Libyan Revolution last year.

One such airline is Malta's flag carrier, Air Malta (KM) who this week stated that they would restart a twice weekly service between Valletta and Libya’s second largest city, Benghazi every Tuesday and Thursday as from Tuesday, 29th May. The flights will supplement the daily service to Tripoli, the country’s capital, which started operating from Friday, 4th May.

Valletta - Benghazi (Tuesday / Thursday)  

• Valletta     dep   0440hrs   arr   Benghazi  0605hrs

• Benghazi  dep   0705hrs   arr   Valletta     0825hrs

Read More Here [Air Malta]

► TUNISIA: Tunisair increases frequencies to Tripoli & Venice; Starts Moscow.

In signs that the tourism industry in Tunisia is slowly recovering following the events of 2011's Arab Spring, Tunisair (TU) has announced increases in flights frequencies between Tunis and Venice (from 3 to 4 weekly flights) with the addition of an extra Monday morning flight. 

► LIBYA: Afriqiyah orders 3 new A330-300s.

Afriqiyah (8U) has placed an order for 3 new A330-300s for delivery from April 2013 onwards, according to aviation site FlightGlobal.