Syria announced on Saturday that international flights at its main airport in Damascus will resume next week, following the recent suspension of commercial service in response to the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad last month.
“We will begin accepting international flights to and from Damascus International Airport starting next Tuesday,” said the Syrian state news agency SANA, quoting Ashhad al-Salibi, who heads the General Authority of Civil Aviation and Air Transport.
“We are committed to reopening the Aleppo and Damascus airports in collaboration with our partners, thereby enabling international and regional airlines to operate flights from anywhere in the world,” he said.
Aid planes from other countries have started arriving in Syria, along with foreign diplomatic teams, and domestic flights are operational.
Qatar Airways said on Thursday it will resume flights to Damascus, the Syrian capital, after approximately 13 years of suspension, with three flights per week planned to start from Tuesday.
A Qatari official informed AFP last month that Doha had proposed assistance to the new authorities in Syria to resume operations at Damascus airport.
On December 18, the first flight to operate since Islamist-led rebels deposed Assad on December 8 departed from Damascus airport heading to Aleppo in the country’s north, AFP journalists observed.
