Keystone-SDA
International flights resumed Tuesday in an atmosphere of jubilation at Damascus International Airport. This is a first since the seizure of power in Syria by a coalition led by radical Islamists, which ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
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January 7, 2025 – 12:34
(Keystone-ATS) A first plane from the national company Syrian Airlines took off for Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, around 11:45 a.m. local time (9:45 a.m. in Switzerland), according to AFP correspondents. The plane had been repainted in the colors of the new flag, that of the uprising against the power of Bashar al-Assad, adopted by the new authorities.
This is the first international commercial flight since December 8, the date of the capture of Damascus by armed groups led by the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the flight of the deposed president. A first flight from Qatar in almost 13 years then landed around 1:00 p.m. local time (11:00 a.m. in Switzerland), according to AFP correspondents.
“Today marks a new beginning,” airport director Anis Fallouh told AFP. “We have started to welcome international flights taking off and landing in Damascus,” he added.
“Totally different”
In the departure hall there was an atmosphere of jubilation, with some passengers making the victory sign, according to AFP correspondents. “The airport is totally different from the past”, under the previous power, says one of them, Amal Geroudy, 45 years old. “The officials treated us with condescension, today (…) they smile at us.”
“I was afraid that the airport would remain closed and that my visa would expire,” adds this woman who is going to join her family in the Emirates. The official Syrian agency Sana announced that “the first Syrian plane after the liberation” took off with “145 passengers on board”.
In the arrivals hall, Syrians laden with multi-colored balloons and bouquets of flowers awaited relatives whom some had not seen for years. Passengers disembarked from the plane coming from Qatar, the new Syrian flag on their shoulders, singing in chorus “Lift your head, you are a free Syrian”, an emblematic refrain of opponents of Bashar al-Assad.
“Test flight”
Some knelt and kissed the ground, according to an AFP photographer. The national airline of Qatar announced the resumption of its flights to the Syrian capital on Tuesday after almost 13 years of interruption.
The airport, which only served a handful of destinations before its closure, had resumed welcoming planes loaded with humanitarian aid since December, notably from several Arab countries including Saudi Arabia which established an air bridge. Jordan announced on Tuesday that it had sent a “test flight” to Damascus to prepare for the resumption of connections between Amman and Damascus.
In addition, on December 18, the first domestic flight since the ousted president’s flight took off from the capital’s terminal for Aleppo in the north. The new authorities have increased their gestures of openness towards the international community and the head of diplomacy, Assaad al-Chaibani, is leading an Arab tour which has already taken him to the Emirates and Qatar, after a first visit to Saudi Arabia.
