Would you take the risk (Afriqiyah airways)?

cjmumto2

Not to mention that a Air France plane dropped out of the sky on the way from Rio not so long ago. But that is a fault with the plane in general which they are now fixing, I hope.

Mary_Hartnell

I see Cuba is not on the boycott list.
When it was bankrupt and just opening up to tourists about 15 - 20 years ago, I flew the length of the island Havana to Santiago.
Amazing little propeller plane that filled up with a cloud of white condensation as it took off. I lent back in the 2CV style seat and the back rest broke off. On looking out of the porthole at the wheels, I noticed that the double wheel under each wing had one good tyre and one that was bald down to its canvas.
I still felt that making the journey in the back of a lorry would have been more dangerous.
Oh yes the plane fell out of the sky about 6 months after I got back to the UK.

African_flyer

Afriqiyah Airways is a full member of IATA and their high standards have to be met. Afriqiyah (Arabic for African) is a full-service airline, not a low-cost carrier. The low fares are based on the premis that as an African airline, the mission statement is to bring air travel to Africa, where many people simply could not afford other airlines. The network within Africa is over 20 destinations and growing. The Airbus fleet is all new; the configuration is spacious for the types involved, e.g. A320 16 Club / 126 Economy; A330 30 Club (with BA-style flat beds) / 200 Economy (other airlines seat up to 180 in the A320 or 361 in the A330). The aircraft which was lost was only 9 months old. The crews are a mixture of Libyan and European, including the ex-chief pilot of Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines; and Airbus own company pilots. These pilots have to reach international standards before being certificated, and many have many hours experience on a variety of types. I knew all the crew on the aircraft which was lost.

Tripoli Airport is undergoing major reconstruction with a new terminal due to open March 2011, which should make things better from the present 1970s terminal. The airport does have a blind landing system, but only on the western runway heading; the eastern runway has no aids except radio beacons.

With regard to the accident, airlines are forbidden by international agreement from advertising their safety records. That is why the emphasis is on the on-board service. The black boxes were recovered immediately and sent to Airbus for analysis. As was stated earlier this may take some months.

If anyone would like to know how I know this, I am the Head of Customer Relations with Afriqiyah at Gatwick, and yes, I do fly with them. I've also worked for British Airways, Ghana International, Air Namibia and several other airlines.

Alldeals

Dave_Z wrote: »

I wouldn't fly Afriqiyah or Air France. Both have questionable safety records and not renowned for quality of service. I've heard Tripoli doesn't have ILS, but any good pilot would not need this. It's purely an aid to landing.

Man whats wrong with you, Afriqiyah has had its first accident, and you say it has a terrible record, so every airline that has had one accident has a terrible record if i understand the hogwash you just said.

Air France has crashed how many times, BA has crashed, Ethiopian, the list goes on. So if i follow your reasoning every single airline has a bad safety record.

News flash, 90 percent of the captains for Afriqiyah are from belgium, hence i think it is safe to assume that the pilots are good.

Afriqiyah after its crash is still allowed to fly into Europe, who with america have the strictest laws on pilot qualifications.

The aircraft are brand new and state of the art, compared to some of the flying museums i have been on with major airlines.

Afriqiyah is the first airline that offers 48 kg baggage into South Africa, i say wow, at last an airline that does not try and rob you and gives you value for what you pay.

I have flown them 4 times and will fly them again with no fear.

As for not having ILS system, they were working on upgrades which is why they said use the VOR with caution.

Even though an ILS is 1000 times better than VOR, Tripoli is not the only airport in the world to only use this system.

So think before you post please, 1 crash in the history of an airline, who has brand new aircraft serviced in CDG, European pilots and the right to enter European airspace does not give it a bad track record