Damascus: International flights resumed at Syria’s main airport in Damascus on Tuesday for the first time since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar Assad last month.
Excitement was in the air at the Damascus airport, where an AFP correspondent saw passengers arriving from Qatar chanting and cheering with some draped in Syria’s three-star independence flag.
“Today marks a new beginning,” Damascus airport director Anis Fallouh told AFP.
“We started welcoming outbound and inbound international flights,” he said, adding that the first flight was bound for Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
The first Qatari commercial flight in nearly 13 years landed in Damascus at around 1:00 p.m. (10:00 GMT).
A Syrian Airlines flight bound for Sharjah took off at around 11:45 am (0845 GMT), marking the first international commercial flight from the airport since December 8, AFP correspondents said.
Syria’s three-star independence flag, long associated with opposition to Assad and which the new authorities have adopted, was painted on the plane.
International aid planes and foreign diplomatic delegations have already been landing in Syria, and domestic flights have also resumed.
“I was afraid that the airport would stay closed, my visa was about to expire, but now I am very happy,” Amal Jeroudi, a 45-year-old Syrian, told AFP as she awaited her flight to Dubai where she was meeting her relatives.
She said airport employees during Assad’s rule “were condescending, but today they are very nice and welcomed us with a smile.”
Syria’s state news agency SANA also reported that “the first Syrian plane after liberation” took off on Tuesday heading to Sharjah carrying “145 Syrian passengers onboard.”
On Tuesday, Qatar Airways resumed flights to Damascus after nearly 13 years, with three weekly flights scheduled.
Fallouh confirmed that “the first incoming flight is a Qatar Airways plane.”
Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said a Royal Jordanian test flight had also departed on Tuesday for Damascus quoting Civil Aviation official Haitham Misto.
The flight is “a message of support and solidarity” that “aims to assess the technical condition of Damascus International Airport” Misto said.
A Qatari official told AFP last month that Doha had offered the new Syrian authorities help in resuming operations at Damascus airport.
On December 18, the first flight since Islamist-led rebels ousted Assad 10 days earlier took off from Damascus airport bound for Syria’s second city Aleppo, in the country’s north, according to AFP journalists.
Syria’s new authorities have made repeated overtures to the international community, with Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani making a string of official visits to Arab capitals including in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.
Syria to receive electricity-generating ships from Qatar and Turkiye
Syria will receive two electricity-generating ships from Turkiye and Qatar to boost energy supplies hit by damage to infrastructure during President Bashar Assad’s rule, state news agency SANA quoted an official as saying on Tuesday.
Khaled Abu Dai, director general of the General Establishment for Electricity Transmission and Distribution, told SANA the ships would provide a total of 800 megawatts of electricity but did not say over what period.
“The extent of damage to the generation and transformation stations and electrical connection lines during the period of the former regime is very large, we are seeking to rehabilitate (them) in order to transmit energy,” Abu Dai said.
He did not say when Syria would receive the two ships.
The United States on Monday issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months after the end of Assad’s rule to try to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance.
The exemption allows some energy transactions and personal remittances to Syria until July 7. The action did not remove any sanctions.
Syria suffers from severe power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available just two or three hours a day in most areas. The caretaker government says it aims within two months to provide electricity up to eight hours a day.
