By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

''I am an international leader, the dean of the Arab rulers, the King of Kings of Africa and the imam of Muslims, and my international status does not allow me to descend to a lower level.'' (By Muammar Gaddafi)

 

The conclusion of the Libyan Revolution in 2011 led Libyans on a worldwide frenzy in search of the billions Muammar Gaddafi salted away during his 42-year long reign and the luxurious life style he was able to afford with it. Some 40% of Libya's population of six million lived below the poverty line during Gaddafi's reign with little to no access to affordable health care despite the fact that Libya has the most abundant oil reserves in Africa. [1] When Libyans could finally catch a glimp inside of the palaces owned by the Gaddafi family, the main thing that stood out was not the abundant luxury one perhaps expected, but rather their poor interior design styles. Whether it was the horrendous looking supercar wall murals encountered in one of the homes of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi or a huge stone water fountain placed in the middle of a hallway in one of Gaddafi's family resorts, money clearly doesn't equal style.

The Libyan Civil War has had a devastating impact on the country's civilian aviation sector, and its two giant An-124 cargo aircraft have not eluded their fair share of suffering. Libya's aviation industry came to a near standstill during the 2011 revolution, and even after the cessation of hostilities it took Libyan airline companies anywhere from months up to a year to restart their operations, while some never flew again. Those that did in doing so expressed their renewed confidence for the future, but insecurity and political turmoil in the wake of the civil war ultimately brought an end to any optimism, and soon the Libyan aviation industry was fighting for its very survival.

 

As the civil war ravaging Libya continued with no prospect of relative stability in sight, the threat of extinction loomed large over the An-124s. At a time when the single aircraft that was still present in Libya was dodging artillery fire left and right, the other An-124 was facing the possibility of being auctioned off by Ukraine in 2017 if the Libyan government failed to pay the $1.2 million it owed to Antonov for storage and routine maintenance of the aircraft since 2009 at the Antonov facility in Kiev.