What is going on in Libya?.. A threat to stop air traffic

In protest against what they called the authorities’ delay in implementing their demands, air traffic controllers in Libya threatened to paralyze air traffic in all the country’s airports, starting next Wednesday.

In the details, the Air Traffic Controllers Union said, yesterday, Saturday, that its agents will enter an open sit-in on Wednesday and will stop all air traffic control services, and therefore all flights will stop at all airports in the country, until their demands are implemented.

Threat starts with 4 hours a day

She explained that flights will initially stop for a period of 4 hours per day, and only one plane will be allowed to take off or land every half hour.

She pointed out that pilgrims, ambulances and military aviation will be excluded from this.

This came after the air traffic controllers repeatedly called for raising wages and including them in the unified salary scale, like other agencies affiliated with the Civil Aviation Authority, in addition to improving equipment and working conditions to ensure flight safety.

The monitoring workers in Libya had already organized, in the past March, a strike that lasted for hours, which was suspended after the national unity government pledged to implement all their requests and address their problems.

One of the most affected sectors!

Because of the war and armed conflicts that Libya has experienced over the past years, which led to the stoppage of airports, and the repercussions of the Corona virus, which limited air traffic and prevented Libyan aircraft from landing in European airports, airlines, ground services and catering services, which employ thousands of workers, suffer from accumulated debts. Huge financial losses amounting to millions.

It is noteworthy that the air transport sector in Libya is one of the sectors most affected by the conflict, as it needs several years to recover, after several airports witnessed acts of violence and vandalism during the past years, while most of the aviation fleet was subjected to burning and vandalism after the targeting of Tripoli International Airport in 2014.