Several flights have been diverted and canceled at Libya's Tripoli Mitiga International Airport (MJI) as violence broke out in the capital. Additionally, Libyan aircraft that were already on the ground had to be removed to avoid damage.

A fight between the 444 Brigade and the Al-Radaa Force, or Special Deterrence Force, started on Monday evening and continued into Tuesday, forcing the closure of roads around Mitiga Airport and bringing the hub to a standstill.

Flights avoiding Tripoli

Mitiga Airport is the capital city's only functioning civilian airport. Libya's main hub Tripoli International Airport (TIP), was closed in 2014 after sustaining severe damage during another civil war. Hence, the closure of MJI has forced flights to divert to other cities.

Photo: Soos Jozsef I Shutterstock

Egyptair, which operates a daily Boeing 737 service between Cairo, was forced to cancel flights on August 15. The carrier later resumed the service, but flights have been diverted to Misrata International Airport (MRA), about 110 mi (177 km) from Tripoli. Misrata was forced to welcome Egyptair a month earlier, as the airline planned to launch CAI-MRA flights in September.

Several flights scheduled to land at MJI have also been canceled, including Libyan Wings and Berniq Airways flights from Istanbul (IST) and Tunisair flights from Tunis (TUN) and Sfax (SFA). FlightRadar24.com shows that scheduled arrivals for August 16 are being diverted to MRA, including an Afriqiyah Airways A330 flying from IST and a Crown Airlines A320 also flying from IST.

Aircraft evacuation at Mitiga

Tensions in Tripoli arose after it was announced that the head of the 444 brigade Mahmud Hamza had been arrested at Mitiga airport. Civilians reported witnessing plumes of smoke and gunfire in some Tripoli suburbs before the violence spread to areas near the airport.

As such, over 20 aircraft had to be evacuated from Mitiga airport and moved to Misrata as airlines assessed the situation in the capital. FlightRadar24.com shows some A330s and A320s belonging to Afriqiyah, Fly Oya, and Crown Airlines. No aircraft have been reported to have sustained any damage.

The Libyan carriers took the necessary measures to ensure the safety of their equipment. The outbreak of violence at or near an airport can easily result in severe losses for airlines if planes are damaged. This was seen in Sudan in April when Saudia and SkyUp jetliners were damaged at Khartoum International Airport (KRT).

A snag in the recovery of Libyan aviation

The political situation in the North African country has been unstable since The First Libyan Civil War in 2011. The situation further deteriorated, leading to the EU banning all civil aviation activities in Libya. In 2014, all airlines from Libya were added to the EU Air Safety List and were banned from operating in European airspace.

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

The political instability has improved since 2020, and last month; the North African nation welcomed its first direct service from Italy in almost ten years. The flight was operated by ITA Airways just three weeks after the Italian government lifted a decade-long flight ban on Libya. Although the EU's restrictions remain in place, this was a significant step towards restoring direct connections with Europe.

Although there have been small outbreaks in other parts of the country, Monday's clashes were Tripoli's worst in months. Scheduled flights from Italy are meant to resume in September, but the closure of the capital's only functioning airport could be a snag in the recovery of Libya's aviation sector. Meanwhile, neighboring Sudan and Niger airspace remain closed.

Do you think the violence in Tripoli could affect the resumption of flights from Italy? Please let us know in the comments!

Sources: OPSGroup, FlightRadar24.com