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Airbus A330: After 9 years in Hamburg – now the end is coming!
An Airbus A330-200 from Afriqiyah Airways, in Hamburg for almost ten years, has now been scrapped. Causes and fleet at a glance.
Airbus A330: After 9 years in Hamburg – now the end is coming!
Afriqiyah Airways' Airbus A330-200, serial number 1472, has an eventful history. Commissioned in 2013, the aircraft only saw a few months of service before it was badly damaged during armed clashes at Tripoli airport in July 2014. While part of the fleet was able to be brought to safety, this Airbus initially remained in Libya. How Focus reported, the A330 was finally transferred to Hamburg in May 2016 to carry out a major maintenance check. But this never took place, and the aircraft spent almost a decade in Germany without any work being done on it.
Afriqiyah Airways discovered that the 40 million euros required to restore the aircraft could never be allocated. An attempt to sell the aircraft for scrap for $3 million was halted, and ultimately the company had to make the decision to scrap the Airbus. In the end, the aircraft was dismantled in Hamburg, with many parts to be recycled to be used as spare parts for other aircraft in the fleet. This fleet currently consists of eight aircraft, including one A319, five A320s and two A330-300s, although only one Airbus A320 is in regular service.
A misfortune from the past
The history of Afriqiyah Airways is steeped in tragedy. Particularly memorable is the demise of Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771, which crashed on May 12, 2010 en route from Johannesburg to Tripoli. In this disaster, 103 of the 104 occupants died, with the only survivor being a 9-year-old boy. This incident, caused by pilot error, led to a comprehensive investigation and some adjustments in the training area, such as Wikipedia explained.
The flight, which crashed a few kilometers before landing, was a sad turning point for the airline, which had previously grown rapidly and served over 20 European and more than 25 African destinations. After the first Libyan Civil War in 2011, most airlines in Libya failed to maintain operations, leading to the closure of Tripoli International Airport. In 2014 the situation worsened again and many aircraft were lost.
A new beginning for Afriqiyah Airways?
However, in recent years the airline has taken steps to recover. Since 2023, frequencies have been increased on newly opened flights to Italy and there are discussions with Airbus about possible fleet expansions. With a limited return to normality in Libya, new opportunities could await the company, with there even being discussions about replacing planned A350-900 orders with A321s, such as Simple Flying reported.
Although the A330-200 is now a thing of the past, the story of Afriqiyah Airways remains an exciting mix of challenges and hopes. The ongoing efforts for stability in Libya and the possible revival of aviation can open up new perspectives for the airline. It remains to be seen whether Afriqiyah Airways has the necessary knack to build on previous successes.