Syria resumes international flights at Damascus airport after Assad’s fall

By Anadolu staff

DAMASCUS, Syria (AA) – International flights resumed at Damascus airport on Tuesday, for the first time since the fall of the Bahsar al-Assad regime last month.

A Syrian Airlines flight with 145 passengers on board left the capital for Sharjah airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

"We assure Arab and international airlines that we are in the process of fully rehabilitating Aleppo and Damascus airports, with the assistance of our partners, to ensure they are ready to receive flights from all over the world," said Ashhad al-Salibi, head of Syria’s civil aviation authority.

In 2012, most airline companies halted their flights to and from Damascus airport following the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown on civil democracy protests.

Last week, Qatar Airways was the first international airline company to announce that it would resume flights to the Syrian capital as of Jan. 7.

Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party's regime, which had been in power since 1963.

The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters captured key cities in a lightning offensive that lasted less than two weeks.

A new administration led by Ahmed al-Sharaa has now taken charge.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar