A Libyan Arab Airlines Airbus A320-200 at Tripoli International Airport (2006). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
26/04/2012
Now that fighter aircraft like Rafale, the F18 and Eurofighter have all vanished from Libya’s skies a commercial battle is shaping up in their wake. Airbus will be pitted against Boeing in the fight for Libya’s civil airliner market. The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is planning to send a definitional mission to Tripoli shortly to size up the country’s air transport needs.
In a tender document, USTDA noted that “due to the history of sanctions, the two national airlines have only purchased Airbus aircraft” up to now. It added that only the small private company, Buraq, owned by Safia Farkash, second wife of Muammar Gaddafi, had acquired Boeing 737s.
In other words, the new political situation and lifting of sanctions could well work in favor of the American group. Continue reading
