Libyan Arab Airlines: Route Networks and Timetable, 1974

 

A few pages from a timetable brochure for Libyan Arab Airlines, the flag carrier of the then-5 year old Jamahiriya.

The route map shows a barbell-style network, centered around the primary cities of Tripoli and Benghazi—Libya's second city on the Mediterranean coast acting as an eastern gateway to Athens, Beirut, and Cairo, with the latter taking  southward turn to continue to Khartoum. 

From the capital, a single dotted line indicates trans-Saharan route links the midland settlement of Sebha before crossing into Niger, linking Agadez and ending at Niamey. A handsome Boeing 727-200 angles across the Algeria-Mali border. 

The second, smaller map covers the same Mediterranean region but shows only the domestic system, an extensive operation from the main cities to ten regional towns, including Misrata, Tobruk, and several, such as Ghadames, Ghat, and Marsa Al Brega, debuting on the Timetablist with this post. 

Inside the brochure, a traditional grid timetable displays the weekly schedules, including the equipment used: even in this period Libyan Arab Airlines used nearly an all-jet fleet of Boeing B720Bs, B727s, Douglas DC-9s, and Sud-Aviation Caravelles. 

Libyan Arab Airlines Network, 2007

The much older, but now lesser-known of Libya's two state carriers, Libyan Arab Airlines has in recent years been eclipsed by Afriqiyah Airways, to the point that consolidation of the standard-bearer into the start-up was announced last fall. The two operate under one state holding company.

 

LAA's golden-trimmed jets continued to cover the region, especially North Africa and a handful of regional routes from bases at both Tripoli and Benghazi. It is not surprising that major European hubs such sa Frankfurt, London, Rome and Milan have long been served; Kiev is surely more curious. 

In previous years, LAA has reached further into Europe to cities including Amsterdam, Moscow, and Paris, in 2009 expansion to reach Niamey and Khartoum in the south and China on the other side of the globe was announced, but not acted upon—service south of the Sahara has been the mandate of sister carrier Afriqiyah Airways.

At present, there is no commercial air service out of Libya.

Special thanks to the perhaps-defunct Airliner Dude blog for the original article.