Airport in Libya's Sirte reopens after 12-yr closure

TRIPOLI, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Gulf of Sirte International Airport, located in Libya's coastal city of Sirte, reopened on Saturday after 12 years of closure with the arrival of three passenger aircraft, the Libyan News Agency reported.

Two of the aircraft were from Tripoli in the west, operated by Libya's MedSky Airlines and Buraq Airlines, and the third from Benghazi in the east, operated by Libya's Berniq Airlines, it reported.

The airport covers an area of about 25 square km and is designed to accommodate up to 500,000 passengers annually, it reported.

Libya remains divided since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi, split between the UN-recognized Government of National Unity in Tripoli and an eastern-based administration backed by the Libyan National Army under commander Khalifa Haftar.

The airport had been out of service since 2013 due to continued damage sustained in the 2011 uprising and the subsequent fighting.

According to a UN report, Sirte is halfway between Tripoli and Benghazi, close to major oil production fields and exporting ports, and is the birthplace of Gaddafi. ■