Amid suspicions and controversy over possible chances to survive, the national carrier EgyptAir resumed operation to Tripoli after suspending flights for eight months.Amirah Ibrahim reports A few days after the 17 February uprising broke out, a Western-sponsored air ban was imposed on Libya and all commercial airlines suspended operation to Libyan destinations. Yet, even when the eastern city of Banghazi was liberated, flying through Libyan airspace remained suspended. "The Libyan market is one of our important markets," explained Hussein Massoud, chairman of EgyptAir Holding Company. "We are determined to retain our full operation as it used to be just as soon as the situation is settled here and there," Massoud explained as he referred to political crises in both Egypt and Libya. He asserted that resuming operation to Tripoli remained conditioned on the capability of the airport's runways to receive flights and operate traffic within its facilities. On Thursday 17 November, the airline launched its first flight from Cairo to Tripoli. The carrier operated a wide body A 340 for the first flight while the service is operated by a medium body A320 aircraft with three classes, first, business and economy. Onboard, only 85 passengers joined the first flight from Cairo. But the return flight from Benghazi was doubled with 190 passengers onboard. "This is like a 40-50 per cent load factor. It exceeds 60 per cent over the following days according to our booking system," explained Yasser Eramly, head of the Commercial Department. "The load factor on return flights hits 100 per cent which provides a positive percentage for the total operation." Eramly explained that such criteria are applied by all airlines, through which operation is being valued through a number of factors. "The season, summer or winter, affects the evaluation of operation visibility. The market; be it Europe, Arab or the far east, is another factor to calculate when judging the demand," Eramly added. Early this month, EgyptAir resumed the Benghazi route with a four flights per week schedule. Politic stability however was not such a serious factor comparing to another obstacle which threatened to explode concerning the airline's ambitious plan to seize the Libyan market. New immigration arrangements and procedures imposed by the new Libyan authorities on Egyptian labour smashed the new operation. At airports, Egyptian passengers who had obtained previous permanent visas or even green cards were not allowed into the planes even though they had purchased valid air tickets. "We were asked to obtain new visa entries and thus many missed their flights," commented an Egyptian passenger who was travelling with his family back to his "own" home in Libya where he spent the last 20 years of his life working. The airline however dismissed the reports and complaints, insisting it did not ask for new visa entries. "We do not apply such claimed instructions as we had not been informed of any new arrangements," commented Massoud. "The Foreign Ministry should have informed us about any change of legal procedures that may interrupt the flexibility of our booking system. We should also be informed to distribute a new memo for all offices around the world," he added. The commercial manager agreed that Libyan authorities imposed new arrangements on Egyptian citizens traveling to Libya, committing them to obtain visa entry before travelling to Libya, a measure that had been removed over a decade ago. "We do not have many sorts of Libyan visa entries and all Egyptian citizens realized the change earlier. There is no thing new about visa entries. Passengers who have valid visa entries or valid green card are allowed to get onboard. Otherwise they should apply to get a new visa entry," Eramly added. The state of uncertainty came from rumors that the new rulers in Libya were going to suspend all legal procedures applied by the previous regime.
