Libyan Airlines has taken delivery of its second new A320 Airbus.
The first was flown to Misrata on 1st December, while another is scheduled to be delivered to Afrqiyah Airways on Monday 24 December —Libyan Independence Day. It will also be flown to Abraq, and will be the first without the carrier’s tail-fin "9999" logo, which is being dropped.
The logo refers to the birth of the African Union in Sirte on 9 September 1999 (9/9/99). Qaddafi saw it as his creation. A new simpler logo was unveiled earlier this week.
Afriqiyah Airways also announced last month that it had ordered four new A350-900 Airbus long-haul aircraft in addition to the six already ordered, making the whole deal worth $2.8 billion. Delivery will start in 2017.
In April, both Afriqiyah and Libyan Airlines were banned from flying to EU destinations, because of safety concerns. The ban, which was imposed with the agreement with the then interim Libyan government, was due to last until November, but has not yet been lifted and to service some of their EU destinations, both carriers have been “wet-leasing” aircraft — hiring them complete with crews.
(Sources: Libya Herald)
