On December 15, 2020, the Libyan Airport Authority (LAA) and the Misrata City Government agreed to build a new passenger terminal at Misrata Airport at the PPP base. According to the agreement, the Misrata City Government will cooperate with private companies to establish a waiting hall to replace the waiting hall that was allegedly destroyed by a fire caused by an electrical short circuit in August 2020. The terminal will be developed according to the design and specifications approved by the Libyan Airport Authority.

The municipal government will be responsible for regular maintenance work in exchange for collecting income from the rent of offices, shops, cafes, restaurants and other services, which will be collected under the direct supervision and follow-up of the airport management department.

The Airport Authority will provide baggage carousel systems, scales, boarding gates, passport control desks and security inspection equipment, and will regularly maintain these equipment. According to the Libyan Airport Authority, these fees and other sovereign taxes will be retained, such as passenger entrance fees, luggage fees, departure taxes and security taxes.

Encourage PPP in the aviation sector

The Libyan Airport Authority has always been keen to encourage the air transport sector to adopt the PPP model. In February 2019, it held a seminar to review the PPP experience of other countries and seek to transform the activities of the Libyan government from operating infrastructure and providing services to focusing on policy and strategy formulation and monitoring of service providers.

The activity envisages the role of the private sector, based on the implementation of development projects at the airport, regular development and maintenance, improvement of facilities, and the use of administrative and technical capabilities and private sector financing capabilities to provide high-quality services.

At the end of the meeting, the Airport Authority made a number of recommendations to the competent national authorities, requesting necessary actions to promote and improve the level of Libya’s airports to meet the standards of developed countries. Editor/Huang Lijun