Syria’s Damascus Airport have resumed international flight operations for the first time since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime

Qatar Airways made the first international commercial flight to Damascus since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. View on euronews

People from Doha of Qatar arrive at the Damascus International Airport, in Damascus, Syria, on Jan. 7, 2025. Damascus International Airport received its first civilian flight from Doha on Tuesday, marking the first arrival from Qatar in 13 years, according to airport officials. (Photo by Monsef Memari/Xinhua)

The first Qatari commercial flight in nearly 13 years landed in Damascus on Tuesday, AFP correspondents said, as international traffic resumed at Syria's main airport nearly a month after rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad.

First international commercial flight lands at Damascus airport since Assad's fall. Qatar Airways flight arrived on Tuesday, greeted by passengers' families inside the terminal. Many passengers are Syrians returning home after more than a decade.

The national airline of Qatar has announced that it will resume weekly flights to Syria 13 years after cancelling operations. Qatar Airways will offer three weekly flights between Qatar and Damascus, Syria, from Tuesday (7 January). In 2011, flights by the carrier to and from Damascus and Aleppo were cancelled amid Syria’s civil war.

A Qatar Airways plane became the first to land at Damascus airport since the ousting of the government of former President Bashar al-Assad last month, as Syria’s interim leaders hope to reassert a semblance of normalcy in the country.

Passengers at Damascus airport hugged their families and cried with joy on Tuesday (January 7), as international flights resumed for the first time since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime last month.