Officials from Libyan Airlines, speaking with the Anatolia news agency, said they had started the non-visa flights as of Saturday with a flight from İstanbul to Tripoli. Noting that they haven't yet received any official notification concerning implementation of the decision on visa abolishment, the same officials, said that they decided to carry out the implementation after receiving verbal permission from authorities. Passport holders who have a sworn translation of their identity card in Arabic can make use of non-visa flights, they said, adding that those passport holders should make sure they have $1,000 in cash during their travels.

It was Nov. 24 when Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi announced after talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Tripoli that they had agreed to end visa requirements. Erdoğan was the first Turkish prime minister to visit Libya in 13 years and also met with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The lifting of the visa requirements came as Turkey works to strengthen trade ties with Libya.