Introduction:-
The company was founded in October 1965 as a subdivision of Libyan Airlines which was under foreign administration and had a limited number of planes, 3 Cravel, 2 Fokker 27 hired planes.
The company used foreign technical and commercial staff in the seventies.
In 1975 the LAA company was founded and run by national expertise .
The objectives of the company were determined by article 2 of its memorandum which regulates air flights inside and outside Jamahiriya including passengers'flights, cargo and post al services according to the commercial procedures applicable by international airline companies.
History
Libyan Airlines was established in 1964 as Kingdom of Libya Airlines and started services in October 1965 using Caravelle jets to Europe. It later operated as Libyan Arab Airlines and Jamahiriya Libyan Arab Airlines. Boeing 727 aircraft were operated on European services during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The London Heathrow service was stopped in the 1980s due to political problems. Boeing 707s were used on long-haul services.[citation needed]
After the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, a Boeing 747, over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, the United Nations imposed sanctions on Libya. All international operations ceased in 1992 as a result of UN trade sanctions imposed when Libya refused to hand over two government agents allegedly involved in the Lockerbie bombing. For a little more than ten years, the airline was forced to fly only to domestic destinations using old aircraft. The embargo was finally lifted in April 1999, allowing the airline to gradually rebuild its international services. In 2001 Air Jamahiriya was merged into Libyan Arab Airlines [2].
After the ending of international sanctions against Libya, Libyan Airlines as LAA reopened its first international route in over a decade to Amman, Jordan, in April 1999.
A 1982 timetable of Libyan Arab Airlines (as it was then known)The carrier has also been negotiating with aircraft manufacturers for new jet planes for its fleet. The extra jets would allow the airline to expand services to cover most of Africa, many European cities, as well as connections to China, India, Pakistan, Japan, the Philippines, Canada and the U.S. The airline recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Airbus for the purchase of 15 new aircraft, four A350s, four A330-200s and seven A320s.[3]
The reason for expansion is to replace the airline's ageing fleet and fend off increased competition. A programme is also in place to increase personnel and technical capacity. Four cargo planes, with a capacity of about 100 metric tonnes, would also be purchased under the plan.[4]
One of the purposes of the renewal would be to attract European tourists to Libya in a bid to raise passenger numbers. The airline continues to launch new destinations as part of expansion plans; a twice weekly Milan-Tripoli service began on November 18th, 2006. Other new European destinations being considered are Madrid, Paris and Lyons.
Ticketing systems, inflight entertainment and an online presence are among the operational areas the airline is now looking at.[5] As of September 2007, the airline has begun to issue electronic tickets.[6]
[edit] Firm Orders
In June 2007, Libyan Airlines announced a firm order for three Bombardier CRJ900 regional jets with options on another two CRJ900 aircraft. Based on the list price for the CRJ900 aircraft, the contract for the three aircraft is valued at approximately $108 million US and marks the beginning of the airline's fleet renewal program.[7]
