Benina International Airport — Benina, Libya

Benina International Airport, coded BEN, serves Benghazi from the town of Benina a short distance outside Libya's second-largest city. The airport rests 433 feet above sea level, its two runways historically handling both domestic Libyan routes and international connections around the Mediterranean and Middle East. Since the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, Benina has repeatedly been caught in the fighting that has divided Libya, suffering damage and extended closures during the clashes for control of Benghazi in the years that followed. Benghazi itself, a coastal city with deep roots as a trading port under Ottoman, Italian, and British influence, remains eastern Libya's largest population center and a base for rival factions in the country's fractured politics. Rebuilding efforts at BEN have aimed to restore full commercial service as security in the area has stabilized at various points. For a country where air infrastructure has been battered by more than a decade of conflict, Benina remains the essential air link for eastern Libya.