__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Friday, June 14, 2013

► LIBYA: Qatar Airways suspends Benghazi flights following threats.

Qatar AirwaysQatar Airways (QR) has temporarily suspended its 4x weekly Doha - Benghazi, Libya flights following an incident yesterday at Benghazi’s Benina Airport  involving a group of mostly Bangladeshi passengers who were forced back onto their flight to Doha by a group of Libyan protesters from the Ezzedine Al-Waqwaq brigade.

The flight's launch in 2011
The flight's launch in 2011 (QR)
According to The Libya Herald, the protesters prevented the passengers from clearing immigration, forcing them instead to return to the aircraft before being dispatched back to Doha. They accused Qatar of having interfered in Libya's affairs and even threatened to shoot down a Qatar Airways plane should it ever come to Benghazi again.

The Qatari carrier has confirmed that the service has been suspended, claiming however, that is is for "commerical reasons".

The Qatar Airways office in Benghazi has also temporarily closed.