Would you take the risk (Afriqiyah airways)?

Voyager2002

I shall fly next month, and Afriqiyah airways would charge about two hundred pounds less for my journey than would Air France. Afriqihay are the Libya-based airline that suffered a catastrophic crash recently (all dead apart from one young boy). My journey would also involve landing at Tripoli early in the morning (which is when and where the crash happened) and some postings on the 'net indicate that Tripoli does not have adequate aircraft guidance systems. Of course the crash investigation will not report for months, so I don't really know what happened.

james2005

Lol I would give it a right miss, whats saving £200 if your dead and cant spend it?

Innys

james2005 wrote: »

Lol I would give it a right miss, whats saving £200 if your dead and cant spend it?

He's not wrong, you know. There's "Moneysaving" and then there's "Moneysuicide".....you choose.

Gloomendoom

I'd be inclined to go Air France, but doubt it makes much difference really...

lilac_lady

AAARRGGGGGHHHH! I hate flying.

lfc321

Afriquiya is not actually on the list of airlines banned from operating in the EU (http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air-ban/doc/list_en.pdf).

Even so, I'm not sure I'd be in a hurry to book.

Gloomendoom

lilac_lady wrote: »

AAARRGGGGGHHHH! I hate flying.

Flying isn't a problem. Like most modes of transport, it's coming to a sudden stop that spoils your day...

bagand96

I'm amused Air France are considered a safer alternative.

For a major European carrier their safety record is shoddy to say the least.

littlestar1981

You're more likely to die in a car crash on the way to the airport (probably)

I'd be more inclined to go for Air France - bigger company, and check out Airline Quality site. But I had never heard of Afriqiyah prior to the crash.

Why don't you make your choice based on the safety record of the aircraft used rather than the company?

bigturnip

Interestingly Afriqiyah Airways' planes are serviced at CDG, so probably the very same people who service the Air France planes. Afriqiyah's fleet are all new aircraft, probably a lot newer than many Air France planes. So from an equipment point of view I would have no qualms flying with them, I have no idea about pilots, but if they're allowed to fly into EU airspace they must meet some kind of standard.

Safety issues aside, they have very mixed reviews on service and Tripoli Airport is apparently not the nicest of places to transit through (make sure you use the loo on the plane before you get off if you have a long stopover).

mad_rich

Is flying in Africa a little bit seat-of-the-pants? Yes

Does one recent crash make Afriqiyah Airways unsafe? Not really

Does Air France have a poor safety record? Surprisingly, yes

Would I worry about it? No, I would worry about the car journeys instead

Would I spend £200 extra to go with Air France? Quite possibly, for comfort if anything (although AF is no luxury either)