Air ambulance flights have returned to Sirte Civil Airport, after a decade of being of hiatus.
The first flight arrived at the airport on Wednesday morning, with the Director-General of the Air Ambulance Service, Ezzedine Al-Was’a onboard. He was received by Sirte Security Director, Brigadier General Al-Siddiq bin Saud.
Sirte Airport has not received flights from the agency since 2011, as a result of the damages to the airport.
Last month, Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport announced the suspension of all flights to Tunisia, due to a nationwide strike by Tunisia’s public sector.
In a statement, the airport’s administration stated that all flights to Tunisia had been suspended on Thursday. This is due to the large-scale public sector strike at most state enterprises, including Tunisian airports last night.
Up to three million Tunisian workers went on strike, shuttering 159 state agencies and public companies, causing cancellations at airports and bringing public transport, the postal service, and utility firms to a halt.
They demanded salary hikes, and concessions on looming reforms, upping pressure on a president already facing a string of crises.
While the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) insists the strike is not political, it comes as President Kais Saied faces intense criticism for excluding opposition forces from his “national dialogue” — part of a push to overhaul the Tunisian state, and consolidate an ongoing power grab.