/ 15 April 1999

FIRST LIBYAN FLIGHT LANDS

THE first commercial Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA) flight landed at Amman’s international airport following the suspension of a seven-year air and arms embargo on Tripoli, Jordanian officials said Thursday. The plane, carrying 43 Libyan aviation and airline officials, touched down Wednesday to a welcome by ministry of transport officials and the director of Jordan’s national carrier Royal Jordanian, Nader Dhahabi. Libya’s choice of Amman as its first port of call since the suspension of sanctions was a sign of “strengthening relations between the two countries,” Dhahabi told the Jordanian news agency Petra. He added that Royal Jordanian will resume regular flights to Tripoli during the coming week. The Libyan airline will run three flights a week to Amman.