Airport authority says flights will resume on January 7 as Qatar Airways set to start flights to Damascus after 13 years.
Syria’s Damascus airport will resume worldwide flights on Tuesday for the primary time since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown final month by armed opposition fighters.
No flights had taken off or landed since pro-Assad forces deserted the airport within the Syrian capital on December 8 after the opposition fighters marched on the town following a lightning offensive that started on November 27.
“We announce we are going to begin receiving worldwide flights to and from Damascus Worldwide Airport” from Tuesday, state information company SANA mentioned on Saturday, quoting Ashhad al-Salibi, who heads the Basic Authority of Civil Aviation and Air Transport.
“We reassure Arab and worldwide airways that we now have begun the section of rehabilitating the Aleppo and Damascus airports with our companions’ assist, in order that they’ll welcome flights from everywhere in the world,” he mentioned.
Al Jazeera’s Hashim Ahelbarra, reporting from Damascus, mentioned the announcement has a “important political and financial implication” for the war-torn nation.
“The brand new administration has been in contact with key regional gamers, notably Qatar, on the necessity to assist them rehabilitate their airport in Damascus to be consistent with worldwide security requirements,” he mentioned.
“They wish to ship a message that life is again to regular in Syria and to permit a whole bunch of 1000’s of Syrians who stay overseas to return again house. And in addition, it’s a message to the worldwide neighborhood that the brand new administration, which is in management, and regardless of the state of affairs throughout the nation, they’re managing to make sure security requirements throughout Syria.”
Worldwide help planes and foreign diplomatic delegations have already been touchdown in Syria. Home flights resumed on December 18, when a flight from Damascus left for Aleppo, in keeping with the AFP information company.
Syrian Airways will resume flights from Damascus to Dubai, within the United Arab Emirates, beginning on Tuesday, an worker instructed AFP, requesting anonymity as a result of they weren’t authorised to talk to the media.
On Thursday, Qatar Airways introduced it will resume flights to the Syrian capital after practically 13 years, beginning with three weekly flights from Tuesday.
