BMI to start flights to Libya in December
UK airline BMI is to launch a daily service from London to Tripoli from 1 December 2010, it said yesterday, in a possible sign of thawing UK/Libyan relations
Until now British Airways was the only UK airline to operate a route to Libya, with flights to Tripoli beginning in1999.
BMI will operate flights from?Heathrow with the first seats available to book from today.
Libya is keen to expand its tourism market as the country attempts to rehabilitate its international reputation following the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, which killed all 243 passengers.
However, relations have been strained over the last year following the release by the Scottish government of the only man ever convicted of the bombing, Abdelbaset al Megrahi, on compassionate grounds.
Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, chief executive of BMI, said business customers would benefit from “even more choice between the UK and Libya” with domestic and long haul connections via Heathrow.
Prices from London Heathrow to Tripoli start from £265 return.