Egypt bans Libyan airline from flying in its airspace

Following air strikes in Libya, it has been reported that Egypt banned a commercial Libyan aircraft bound for Istanbul from flying over its airspace. The aircraft was subsequently forced to return to Tripoli. State newspaper al-Ahram reported that Egypt’s civil aviation minister, Hisam Kamal, denied permission had been withheld and that “No Libyan airline asked for an overfly permission”. Turkey is one of the final countries Libyan airlines can fly to. Libyan airlines flying to Turkey need to cross Egyptian airspace to avoid Cyprus as the European Union has imposed an overfly ban for security reasons.