Afriqiyah Airways


Afriqiyah Airways is a state-owned airline based in Tripoli, Libya. Before the 17 February 2011 revolution, it operated domestic services between Tripoli and Benghazi, and international scheduled services to over 25 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East; since the end of the war, it has been seeking to rebuild its business. Afriqiyah Airways' main base is technically Tripoli International Airport, although this was reported as closed in 2014 and flights are operating as best they can from other airports. The airline is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization.

History

Establishment and growth: 2001-2011

Afriqiyah Airways was established in April 2001 and commenced scheduled services on 1 December 2001. The name Afriqiyah comes from the Arabic word for African. It is wholly owned by the Libyan government and has 287 employees. The airline started with Boeing 737-400 aircraft, but in 2003, an all-Airbus fleet was introduced. The Italian airline Blue Panorama jointly set up the airline with the Libyan government.
The airline generated US$120 million in revenue in 2006.
Afriqiyah Airways signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the purchase of six Airbus A320s and three Airbus A319s plus an option on five, as well as for three Airbus A330-200s, with an option for three. The first A319 was delivered on September 8, 2008.
The new A320s and A319s entered service on Afriqiyah's growing international network, covering routes from its base at Tripoli to seventeen destinations in North, West, and Central Africa and the Middle East, as well as to European destinations such as Paris, Brussels, London, Rome, and Amsterdam. Afriqiyah's A319s carry 124 passengers in a two-class configuration, while the A320 seats 144 in two class configurations. The A330s serve the long-distance operations on routes to Southern Africa, Asia and Europe, and have a two-class configuration with 230 seats. As of 2015 the airline no longer flies to some of these destinations anymore.
On 20 August 2009, an Air Afriqiyah aircraft - the private aircraft of Colonel Gaddafi - flew to Glasgow Airport to collect Abelbasset al-Megrahi. He was flown directly from Glasgow to Tripoli.
Three A330s that were delivered in 2009 were used to inaugurate new routes to Dhaka, Johannesburg and Kinshasa. In the winter 2010, two new routes were added to the airline's network - Beijing and Nouakchott.
In mid-October 2010, Afriqiyah Airways and Libyan Airlines were expected to merge into one airline, and, although postponed, the merger is still planned.

Suspended operations: 2011

As a consequence of the Libyan Civil War and the resulting no-fly zone over the country enforced by NATO, in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, all flight operations by Afriqiyah Airways were terminated on 17 March 2011.
Point 17 of the United Nations resolution specifically banned flights into members of the United Nations by aircraft registered in Libya. This was to have been rescinded when Afriqiyah Airways was officially 'unsanctioned' on 22 September 2011, when Libyan-registered aircraft should have been again permitted to enter EU airspace. This did not happen and up to 5 March 2013 however no such easing had been announced and Libyan-registered aircraft are still banned from Europe, even overflying through the airspace. The Tripoli - Istanbul route has to route further east, via over Alexandria, which adds an hour each way to the sector time. Afriqiyah Airways announced that they expected to resume flights between Tripoli and London by the end of the year, subject to the issue of the correct air transport and security permits, using A320 equipment. However, flights did not resume until 3 July 2012. In order to get round the EU ban, Afriqiyah has wet-leased an A320 from Air Moldova, which complies with the EU requirements.

Rebuilding post-war services: 2012 onwards

After suffering badly during the war, Afriqiyah Airways expressed its renewed optimism for the future on 12 November 2012 when it increased its order for A350 aircraft, announcing a new firm order for four A350-900s, and converting its original order for six A350-800s into six of the larger A350-900 model, taking the total number of A350s on order to 10 A350-900s. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2020, and the airline plans to deploy the aircraft on new routes to the United States, the Middle East and Asia.
On 19 December 2012 the airline unveiled its new livery, which features a white fuselage and black tailfin adorned with three blue stripes, representing the neck markings of the Turtle Dove. This design will replace the former livery with the 9.9.99 logo on its tailfin.
The airline's hub, Tripoli International Airport, has been closed since 13 July 2014 and is still shut down as of October 2016. Afriqiyah Airways currently operates a small route network out of Mitiga International Airport instead.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

Afriqiyah Airways is a subsidiary of the Libyan African Aviation Holding Company, which itself is owned by the Libyan National Social Fund, the Libyan National Investment Company, the Libya-Africa Investment Fund and the Libyan Foreign Investment Company; the airline is ultimately owned by the Libyan government. LAAHC is also the holding company for Libyan Airlines; although they currently have separate operations, a merger of the two carriers is progressing slowly, though earlier expectations of a union in the first half of 2013 appear to have repeatedly been put back, and in June 2014 it was reported that the merger was "not currently being worked on".

Business trends

Scant management data for Afriqiyah Airways have been published, even before the civil war of 2011. Mainly based on statements by airline or government officials, or AFRAA reports, trends for recent years are shown below :

200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018
Turnover 180183184195205
Turnover 124130135138140145163
Net profit
Net profit
Number of employeesc. 287c. 835c.1,080c.1,300c.1,463c.1,635c.1,8801,086
Number of passengers 0.70.91.42.30.40.81.20.5
Passenger load factor n/an/an/an/an/an/an/a76
Number of aircraft 12615
Notes/sources
Civil war
March→

Corporate identity

The Gaddafi-era 9.9.99 logo on the side of Afriqiyah's aircraft refers to the date of the Sirte Declaration, signed on 9 September 1999. The declaration marked the formation of the African Union. On Muammar Gaddafi's orders, the date was placed on the fuselage of all of the aircraft when the airline was founded. Tom Little of the Libya Herald said "Gaddafi saw the declaration as one of his proudest achievements".
In 2012 the airline decided to use a new branding to replace the previous one with its Gaddafi overtones. Saeed Al-Barouni, the in-flight services and catering manager, created a new logo that was selected from sixty other candidates. Al-Barouni's new logo is based on the markings of a turtle dove. The new branding was unveiled on 19 December 2012 at the Rixos Al Nasr hotel in Tripoli.
Afriqiyah Airways is one of the few airlines which doesn't serve alcoholic beverages on its flights.

Destinations

As of August 2016, Afriqiyah Airways operates a small network to destinations in Northern Africa as well as Istanbul in Turkey. Until the outbreak of the civil war, it used to serve several more destinations in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Fleet

Current fleet

, the Afriqiyah Airways fleet consists of an all-Airbus fleet of the following aircraft:

Historical fleet

An Airbus A340-200, registration 5A-ONE was painted in the airline colours and operated as a private jet for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from 2003 to 2011 fitted with a luxurious VIP interior. It was damaged during the battle at Tripoli International Airport. Stored since March 2014 in Perpignan-Rivesaltes Airport, France, under Afriqiyah colors.

Accidents and incidents