Alan George/LONDON
THE USA, UK AND France are considering a tightening of the United Nation's aviation sanctions against Libya, to include a crackdown on European companies operating aircraft in Libya's oilfields. The 1991 sanctions were aimed at forcing Libya to surrender for trial two men accused of planting a bomb on a Pan American Boeing 747 which crashed at Lockerbie in the UK in 1988.
The proposed measures, which could be implemented within six months, include a ban on the supply of spare parts and engineering and maintenance services for all aircraft operating in Libya.
European operators, with a lot to lose if the new ban comes into force, include Zurich-based Avisto (wet-leasing a Fokker F28 and a Shorts SD360-300 to the Sirte oil company), Charles Keller, also of Zurich (operating a Raytheon Beechcraft 200 in the oil fields), Malta's Medavia (flying CASA C212s) and Netherlands-based Schreiner (operating Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8s in-country).
The companies have been operating legally as a result of a loophole in the UN sanctions. These banned flights to and from Libya and prohibited the supply of spares and maintenance for Libyan aircraft or components. The European aircraft are operating under wet leases started before the embargo.
France, whose oil companies are active in Libya, is resisting the sanctions tightening, and the UK is said to have reservations.
Source: Flight International
