1. INFRASTRUCTURE, Libya
Date Posted: 28-Dec-2005
Jane's Sentinel Security Assessment - North Africa
INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure TOP
Country Railways (km) Roads (km) Waterways Main Airport Main Port
(km)
Algeria 3,945 60,000 None Algiers Algiers
Chad None 380 n/a N'Djamena None
Djibouti 100 330 n/a Djibouti Djibouti
Egypt 4,548 18,300 3,500 Cairo Alexandria
International
Eritrea 118 874 n/a Asmara Massawa
Ethiopia 781 3,300 n/a Addis Ababa None
Libya None 28,000 None Tripoli Tripoli
Mali 729 6,000 1,800 Bamako-Snou Koulikoro -
River Niger port
Mauritania 740 3,100 n/a Nouakchott Nouadhibou
Morocco 1,907 33,000+ None Casablanca Casablanca
Somalia None < 2000 n/a Mogadishu Mogadishu
(various); (closed since
Hargeysa 1995 due to
(Somaliland); insecurity);
Berbera Berbera
(Somaliland); (Somaliland);
Kismaayo Boosaaso
(JVA) (Puntland);
Kismaayo
(JVA).
Sudan 4,578 km (3,330 4,370 5,000 Khartoum Port Sudan
km operational)
Tunisia 2,152 9,000 None Tunis-Carthage Tunis
Roads TOP
About two-thirds of Libya's road network is paved, either with a surface of bitumen or having
been treated with bitumen.
Railways TOP
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2. Libya's
Proposed Rail
Network
(Jane's
Information
Group)
No railways have operated in Libya since 1965, when the British-laid line between Tubruq
and Egypt was dismantled. Nevertheless, the Ghadaffi government has revived plans to build
a new 1,435 mm gauge system comprising a line along the Mediterranean coast from the
Tunisian frontier via Tripoli to the Egyptian frontier and a line south from Sirte to Sabha, in
the heart of a mineral resource area. In 1992 the General Projects Office was established to
take forward plans to develop the system and in 2000 this organisation became the Railways
Executive Board. The total cost of the project is estimated to be USD10 billion.
In March 2000 the Board signed a USD477 million contract with the China Civil Engineering
Construction Corporation (CCECC) to build and maintain the first phase of the network: a
163 km line with 16 stations from Ras Ajdir to Tripoli, plus a 28 km link to the capital's port
area. This followed the establishment in 1998 of a joint Libyan-Chinese committee to oversee
initial stages of the project. Arrangements for operating the new railway remain to be
decided, with concessioning stated to be one possible option. In late 2000 the Board
employed some 750 staff.
Current plans foresee an eventual network of 3,170 km comprising: a 2,170 km line from Ras
Ajdir, at the Tunisian frontier, eastwards via Tripoli, Benghazi and Tubruq to make a
connection with the Egyptian system at Musaid; and a line of some 1,000 km south from
Sirte via Waddan to Sabha, with a branch westwards to Tarot. A total of 96 stations will be
provided. The coast line is expected to carry both passenger and freight traffic, especially
agricultural and petroleum products, while the line to the south will primarily carry iron ore
from the Sabha area to a steelworks at Misratah, east of Tripoli.
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3. In 2001, site preparation work was completed; construction of the Ras Ajdir-Tripoli sector
was still in progress in early 2005. The remaining sectors cover: Sirte-Benghazi; Benghazi-
Musaid; and Sirte-Sabha. On the Benghazi-Musaid section preparatory work was in progress
between Tubruq and Musaid in 2000.
Libyan officials announced in December 2001 that the north-south route from Sirte would
extend south across the Sahara to link Libya with Chad and Niger. This would presumably
link up with the Nigerian system. However, such lavish infrastructure projects are frequently
touted by Ghadaffi and are rarely followed up.
Waterways TOP
Libya has no waterways navigable by vessels of appreciable size.
Airports TOP
Libya has a total of 142 airports, 59 of which have paved runways. Before UN sanctions were
imposed in 1992 international flights operated from Tripoli and Benghazi, and these have
resumed since the suspension of sanctions in 1999. Libya's aviation infrastructure
deteriorated during the sanctions era, when only domestic flights were permitted. However,
the regime is working to bring it up to contemporary standards.
Apart from the two international airports, there are also significant civilian airports with
paved airstrips at El-Bayda, Ghadamis, Ghat, Khufrah, Sabha and Sirte. Each of these has a
runway of about 3,600 m in length. A smaller civilian airstrip at Hun has a runway of about
1,800 m.
Benghazi Benina TOP
Reference point N32 05.9 E020 16.3
Maximum runway length 3,600 m (11,811 ft)
Runway surface Concrete/Asphalt
Elevation 132 m
Nearest town/city Benghazi (32 km)
Tripoli International TOP
Reference point N32 39.81 E013 09.54
Maximum runway length 3,600 m (11,811 ft)
Runway surface Asphalt
Elevation 80 m
Nearest town/city Tripoli (24 km)
Civil Airlines TOP
Afriqiyah Airways TOP
Afriqiyah was established in 2001 to foster Ghadaffi's diplomatic initiative in Africa and to
establish Tripoli as a rival to Cairo and Casablanca in linking the Mediterranean and sub-
Saharan Africa. African destinations include Abidjan, Accra, Bamako, Cotonou, Khartoum,
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4. Lagos, Lom, N'Djamena, Niamey and Ouagadougou. European destinations include Brussels,
Geneva, London and Paris.
Fleet details
Airbus A320-200 unknown
Buraq Air TOP
In November 2000, Tripoli permitted the first private airline, Buraq Air, to be set up in Libya.
It mostly runs domestic flights, including daily flights between Tripoli (Mittiga airport) and
Benghazi, although it runs international services to Istanbul and Aleppo and plans to expand
its international services. The company is believed to be linked to Seif el-Islam Ghadaffi.
Fleet details
Boeing 727 3
Ilyushin Il-76TD 3
Let 410 3
Antonov An-12 1
Libyan Arab Airlines TOP
Fleet details
Boeing 707-300C 3
Boeing 707-200 1
Boeing 727-200 Advanced 7
DA Falcon 20C 1
DA Falcon 50 1
Fokker F27-400 1
Fokker F27-600 12
Fokker F28-4000 3
GA Gulfstream II 1
Note:
· The serviceability of many of the aircraft declined due to the UN sanctions. With the
suspension of these in 1999 the airline has been able to begin to restructure and
modernise its fleet. The figures above should therefore be treated with some caution.
Many older aircraft have been reported for sale and LAA is keen to acquire new aircraft,
reportedly 24 Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 aircraft.
UN sanctions officially proscribed air travel to Libya between 1992 and 1999. Some contact
did however take place, and with the suspension of the sanctions (lifted in September 2003),
many major carriers have moved to reintegrate Libya into their networks. Foreign airlines
operating scheduled services to Tripoli by 2005 included the following:
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5. · Air Algerie
· Air Malta
· Alitalia
· Austrian Airlines
· British Airways
· EgyptAir (also to Benghazi)
· Emirates
· JAT Airways (Yugoslavia)
· KLM Royal Dutch
· Lufthansa
· Malev Hungarian Airlines
· Pakistan International Airlines
· Qatar Airways
· Royal Air Maroc
· Royal Jordanian
· Sudan Airways
· Swiss (also to Benghazi)
· Syrian Arab Airlines (also to Benghazi)
· Tunisair
· Turkish Airlines
· Ukraine International Airlines
Ports TOP
East to west, Libya has ports at Zuwarah, Tripoli, Khums, Misratah, Ras Lanuf, Marsa el-
Burayqah, Benghazi, Darnah and Tubruq.
Tripoli TOP
Container vessels are handled in the Inner Harbour at Tripoli and at a berth in the newly
constructed Western Harbour. Open storage has recently been made available at the latter
facility. The East Harbour Terminal has a quay of 400 m with a depth alongside of 12 m.
Roll-on/off ships can be handled at one end of the terminal and container cranes are available.
Telecommunications TOP
The telecommunication network of Libya is relatively modern and well developed, although
it has had little incentive to develop competitive structures within the protected local market.
Almost all urban households have a telephone land connection. Radio relay, tropospheric
scatter, coaxial cables and domestic satellite stations all allow communication with other
countries with relative ease. In 1999, Libya began to establish a fibre optic network linking
the towns along its coast.
The El Madar Telephone Company, a subsidiary of Libya's state-owned telecoms monopoly
General Post and Telecommunications Company (GPTC), established a GSM cellular/mobile
service in November 1996. The network was rolled out west from Benghazi and now covers
the major population centres along the Mediterranean coast.
In 2003 Muhammad Ghadaffi set up a mobile telephone company, Libyana, that was
officially inaugurated on 1 September 2004. This company has reportedly promised to
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6. provide 620,000 mobile/cellular telephone connections in a network covering 46 towns and
cities.
UPDATED
2005 Jane's Information Group
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