Irene Bonello. Photos: Matthew Mirabelli

About 70 mainly Maltese workers were yesterday flown in from Libya following the intervention of the Malta government, as the recent surge of violence brought the neighbouring country’s economy to a standstill.

Their tickets were not covered by the State, however, as no evacuation order has yet been issued. Passengers paid about €260 for the one-way flight.

The Nationalist Party last week filed a motion for an urgent parliamentary debate on the situation in Libya and yesterday it complained about lack of feedback from the government, saying it might have to outline evacuation plans.

In another development it was announced that the postal service to Libya had been temporarily suspended.

The fighting in Libya has centred at Tripoli International Airport, about 30 kilometres away from the city centre, but the acute fuel shortage and rising tensions have made it virtually impossible for employees to go to work.

With no end to the clashes in sight, Maltese nationals had requested their embassy’s help to return home safely, at least until the situation calms down.

This opportunity came on Sunday when they learned about the chartered flight from the small Mitiga airport in Tripoli, which however was deemed safe.

The Petro Air flight, which was coordinated by Medavia, landed at Malta Inter­national Airport shortly before 6pm.

Passengers were finally able to embrace their loved ones who had been waiting anxiously at the arrivals lounge.

Irene Bonello, who has been working in the medical sector in Libya with her husband for 12 years, told Times of Malta they decided to leave as they could no longer lead a normal life.

“There was no time to think when on Sunday afternoon we were offered the opportunity to leave and so we packed a few belongings and made our way to Mitiga on the following day,” Ms Bonello recounted.

However she expressed her determination to return once the situation stabilised, just as they had done in the aftermath of the 2011 civil war.

On the other hand one passenger was adamant he would no longer set foot in Libya.

“I can assure you that I have no intention to be back on the plane heading to Libya even when the situation calms down as I will never forget the tension and at times harrowing experiences I had to go through,” he said.

Still, the plane headed back to Mitiga laden with passengers. A government spokesman said among them were Libyan nationals who had been receiving treatment in Malta and some senior officials from the Corinthia Group.

A spokesman for the hotel group said both its Corinthia BAB Africa Hotel in the centre of Tripoli and the Palm City complex were still operating, as fighting was concentrated outside the city centre.

However Jean Claude Muscat, a director of the St James Group which runs three clinics in Tripoli, said even though there was no fighting in their vicinity, the country was at a standstill.

“Unfortunately our employees, who number around 20, cannot turn up for work and we had to close down our clinics for the time being.”

He expressed hope the conflict would not drag on as it could put in jeopardy their ambitious project to build a hospital in Tripoli.

The director of a Maltese company that runs a training centre in Libya said all non-essential staff were being evacuated.