{"id":3014,"date":"2018-01-22T09:14:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T14:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/?p=3014"},"modified":"2018-01-24T17:04:59","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T22:04:59","slug":"jan2018-gunfire-at-tripoli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/jan2018-gunfire-at-tripoli\/","title":{"rendered":"A319, A330 hit by gunfire at Tripoli"},"content":{"rendered":"

Heavy clashes broke out in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Jan 15, leaving at least twenty people dead and forcing HLLM\/Mitiga airport to close for five days, re-opening again on Jan 20. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Gunfire at the airport damaged multiple aircraft, including a few A319s and at least one A330.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are some photos of some of the damage:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Both airports in Tripoli are focal points for fighting. Given their strategic value, they periodically serve as headquarters for various local militias.<\/p>\n

HLLT\/Tripoli\u00a0<\/strong>has been more or less completely closed since mid-2014, when at least 90% of the airport\u2019s facilities were destroyed in fighting between local militias. Since then, international flights to and from Tripoli have been using HLLM\/Mitiga instead. Technically, HLLT\/Tripoli is now only available for VIP, emergency and ambulance flights; but in reality, it should be avoided at all costs.<\/p>\n

HLLM\/Mitiga\u00a0<\/strong>is the old military airfield, which is now being used for civilian traffic, since the closure of HLLT\/Tripoli. However, the airport has been plagued by violence over the past few years, and has been forced to close a number of times.<\/p>\n

Back in July 2017, we reported on the intense fighting that took place at Mitiga airport where 5 people were killed and 32 injured<\/a><\/strong>, and then on\u00a019 Oct 2017, a Libyan Airlines A330 at the airport was hit by gunfire during an exchange of fire between local militia in the district directly south of the airport.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A number of countries already have blanket warnings in place against operating to Libya, and they all say pretty much the same thing: avoid the entire country – don\u2019t land at any airport, don\u2019t even overfly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So we suggest you ignore whatever gets pumped out on the HLLL FIR Notams about airports being “AVAILABLE H24 FOR INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS AND EN-ROUTE DIVERSIONS”. (You can read that nonsense in full by clicking here<\/strong><\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Libya remains categorised as a Level One country (Do Not Fly) at safeairspace.net<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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