Syria said on Saturday the country’s main airport in Damascus would resume international flights starting next week after such commercial trips were halted following last month’s ousting of President Bashar al-Assad.
“We announce we will start receiving international flights to and from Damascus International Airport from” Tuesday, state news agency SANA said, quoting Ashhad al-Salibi, who heads the General Authority of Civil Aviation and Air Transport.
“We reassure Arab and international airlines that we have begun the phase of rehabilitating the Aleppo and Damascus airports with our partners’ help, so that they can welcome flights from all over the world,” he said.
International aid planes and foreign diplomatic delegations have already been landing in Syria. Domestic flights have also resumed.
Syrian Airlines will resume flights from Damascus to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, starting on Tuesday, an employee told AFP requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
On Thursday, Qatar Airways announced it would resume flights to the Syrian capital after nearly 13 years, starting with three weekly flights from Tuesday.
A Qatari official told AFP last month that Doha had offered the new Syrian authorities help resuming operations at Damascus airport.
On 18 December, the first flight since the rebels ousted Assad on 8 December took off from Damascus airport to Aleppo in the country’s north, AFP journalists saw.
