The Tunisian Intercity Transport Company (La Société Nationale de Transport Interurbain – SNTRI), announced the resumption of its activities on the joint line linking Tunis and Tripoli, starting Friday 24 September.
“The pre-booking process has been opened at the road transport station in Bab Alioua in Tunis,” SNTRI said in a statement.
On Saturday, the Tunisian national carrier, Tunisair, announced the resumption of its flights from Tunis Carthage airport to Tripoli-Mitiga and Benghazi airports in Libya starting 23 September.
In a statement, the Tunisian airline recalled that passengers must comply with the agreed upon health protocol. The resumption of Tunisair flights to Libya follows the presidential decision to reopen the border crossings with Libya.
This came during a meeting with the Tunisian Foreign Minister, Othman Al-Jarandi, Interior Minister, Reda Gharslawi, and Health Minister, Ali Merabet, where President Kais Saied was briefed on the outcomes of the Tunisian-Libyan joint security and health ministerial committees meetings.
The decision to reopen the border follows a visit last week by Libyan Prime Minister, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba to Tunis, after growing friction over the border and other issues.
President Saied further called for respecting the health protocol put in place, emphasising that other measures could be announced following the evaluation of the epidemiological situation.
Border crossings have been closed since 8 July due to the outbreak of the mutated Delta strain of the COVID-19 virus in Libya. The government announced it was closing its borders with Tunisia for a week due to the rise of cases in the country, a government spokesman said. The decision came as a precautionary step to what the government described as “worsening situation and collapsed health system.”