Libya's Benina International Airport has received up to 40 flights since late April carrying Libyan nationals stranded in various countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Administrative and Financial Director Osama Mansour al-Ferjani said Thursday
BENGHAZI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th July, 2020) Libya's Benina International Airport has received up to 40 flights since late April carrying Libyan nationals stranded in various countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Administrative and Financial Director Osama Mansour al-Ferjani said Thursday.
"Benina airport has received approximately 30 or 40 flights so far coming from Alexandria, Tunisia, Amman and Istanbul with stranded Libyan, and this number is from late April," the executive told Sputnik.
Al-Ferjani went on to say that nearby Tunisia served as an example for regulating passengers arriving from abroad.
"We took Tunisia as an example, it stipulated that the traveler coming to it must have a certified PCR [polymerase chain reaction] analysis and also to self-quarantine for two-week on their own account," Al-Ferjani said.
He went on to explain that the airport's administration ramped up the sanitary preparedness and testing capacity while regular air traffic was suspended.
"We had a meeting with the Ministry of Health regarding the provision of the PCR testing device, and we have prepared a place for it inside the airport, it will be available within a few days. We also provided 30 manual sterilizers in the passenger halls," Al-Ferjani said.
Although no date for a resumption of regular civilian air travel has yet been set, Al-Ferjani said that the airport is currently for new regular flights.
"Malta, Greece and the United Arab Emirates have expressed a desire to open lines and an air corridor with Benina Airport, but they have some criteria and conditions. We are currently processing these standards that were requested, including security and technical matters," he said.
Air traffic in and out of the country was shuttered in mid-March. The first case of COVID-19 was detected about one week later. The country has so far detected 1,268 cases of infection with 36 deaths and 306 recoveries.
