Air Malta cancelled its flight to Tripoli this afternoon after Libyan authorities closed the airport because rockets hit a runway.

The flight had to leave Malta at 5pm. An airline spokesman said the company was told that the airport had closed for operational reasons.

Passengers on an Emirates flight to Tripoli were disembarked at Malta International Airport.

A spokesman for Libya's transport ministry told a Reuters reporter visiting the airport that flights were halted but the airport has been reopened using a second runway. However, the reporter saw no planes taking off or landing.

"We cancelled all flights," said the country head of a foreign airline with several daily flights to Tripoli.

Maintenance teams were clearing the first runway of debris, the spokesman said, adding it was unclear who had fired the rockets which landed at dawn.

Gunfire could be heard during the night in the capital, residents said.

Libya's government struggles with militias that helped overthrow Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but which have kept their guns to demand power, oil wealth and influence.