As part of a gradual US political rapprochement with Libya, the Department of Transportation has lifted a ban on cargo flights to Libya that has been in effect since 1986.
US airlines may now undertake all-charter cargo operations between the two countries and may place their codes on flights operated by third-country, non-Libyan carriers. All other air services remain prohibited.
The USA imposed initial aviation sanctions on Libya in the late 1970s, followed in 1981 by a ban on US purchases of Libyan oil. In 1986 the USA declared a comprehensive economic embargo on Libya following terrorist attacks in Rome and Vienna mounted by a Libyan-backed Palestinian faction.
UN sanctions, including a ban on flights to and from Libya and a ban on the supply of aircraft and parts, were imposed in 1992 and 1993 in an effort to persuade Tripoli to surrender two Libyans accused of the December 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie. The sanctions were suspended in 1999 after the trial of the two men.
Source: Flight International
