Ministry of National Defence
The Minister of National Defence Gabriel Oprea ordered on Wednesday, February 23, that two military aircraft be prepared to fly to Libya and evacuate the Romanian citizens there. The order follows a governmental decision taken as a consequence of the humanitarian crisis that country is facing.
The C-130 HERCULES aircraft of the Romanian Air Force landed on Tripoli Airport, in Libya, on Thursday, February 24, at 18.10 hrs., while the other military aircraft, C-27 J SPARTAN, landed on La Valleta Airport in Malta, on the same day at 19.00 hrs.
The military aircraft C-130 HERCULES, having 56 Romanian citizens onboard, took off from the Tripoli Airport in Libya on Thursday, February 24, at 23.30, heading for La Valletta Airport in Malta, to refuel.
C 27 J SPARTAN aircraft flies from La Valetta Airport in Malta to Libya on Friday, February 25, for another group of Romanian and foreign citizens waiting to be evacuated from the Tripoli Airport. Following the activation of the EU monitoring and information mechanism for civil protection with a view to assisting European citizens in Libya, in the spirit of cooperation and solidarity with EU states, the Minister of National Defence Gabriel Oprea, approved that Romanian military aircraft allow foreign citizens onboard along Romanian ones.
Military aircraft C-27 J SPARTAN, having 31 people onboard, 24 Romanian citizens and seven from other EU member states, took off from Tripoli Airport, at 20.45 hrs. on Friday, February 25, heading for La Valletta Airport in Malta, where it is planned to stop for refueling.
Today, military aircraft C-27 J SPARTAN flies back to Malta, for a second mission and is to stay on standby there ready for any emergency, in accordance with the number of flights established by the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The aircraft took off from the 90th Airlift Flotilla heading for La Valetta Airport.
Military aircraft C-130 HERCULES, having 65 Romanian and foreign citizens onboard, took off from Tripoli Airport in Libya on Saturday night, February 26, heading for Romania. A stopover would be made in La Valletta, Malta to refuel.