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CAIRO (AFP) July 8 - A Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA) Airbus 320 flew into Cairo airport in the early hours of Saturday morning, ending the airline's eight year absence from Egypt caused by the international air embargo against Libya. The arrival of the plane, carrying 11 passengers and a delegation of Libyan aviation officials, marked the resumption of regular flights more than a year after the suspension of UN sanctions against Tripoli. Top LAA official Mohammed Issa told reporters on arrival that LAA will make 12 return flights a week between the two countries including seven linking Tripoli and Cairo. Two flights will link the Mediterranean cities of Benghazi in Libya and Alexandria in Egypt in addition to two weekly flights between Benghazi and Cairo and one between Cairo and Sabha, 600 kilometers (375 miles) south of Tripoli, he added. An LAA official in Cairo had earlier told reporters there would be eight flights a week including three between Tripoli and Cairo. Egyptian officials put on a midnight party for the Libyans to celebrate the reopening of the air corridor that had been ordered by Libya's Colonel Gadhafi and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Issa thanked Egypt for helping rebuild its fleet after the sanctions and said, "there is an agreement to set up a united Arab airspace as well as a single Arab airline company," without specifying who had made the agreement. He said Libya would welcome on Monday the first EgyptAir flight in eight years after Egypt's national airline announced last week that it would also resume its connections with Libya. The international air embargo imposed on Libya in 1992 was suspended more than a year ago following the handover of two Libyans suspected of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. Issa said that despite initial hopes for a speedy resumption of flights after the suspension of the ban, this had not been possible for technical reasons. "Libya emerged from a harsh embargo and we could only resume (international flights) in phases since all our planes are hired. But we hope to buy planes to increase our fleet," he said. The LAA plane returned to Libya after two hours during which the official delegation held talks with representatives of EgyptAir. |
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