Wednesday, December 17, 2024, saw the return of flight operations from Damascus Airport (DAM) in Syria following the overthrowing of the country’s former President Bashar al-Assad on December 7, 2024. Assad fled the country over the weekend of December 7 and 8, 2024, following the downfall of his rule brought about following an uprising by militia forces linked to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamic movement in Syria.
Immediately following the overthrow of the Assad regime, the country’s flag carrier, Syrian Airlines began a process of removing all images of former President Bashar al-Assad from its official website and said it would pause all commercial operations while it assessed the security situation and following the closure of Syrian airspace following Assad’s escape to Russia. A company representative said at the time that the airline could potentially recommence services, including international flights to several cities which could include Moscow, as soon as December 18, 2024.
However, on Wednesday, December 17, 2024, one of the carrier’s Airbus A320 aircraft departed on a domestic flight to Syria’s second city of Aleppo. The flight was reported to be a test flight in advance of a full restart of commercial operations by the company on December 18, 2024, as previously planned. The flight is reported to have had 43 domestic and foreign journalists onboard.
VIDEO: First flight takes off from Damascus airport since fall of Assad.
The first flight since the ouster of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad takes off from Damascus airport heading to Aleppo in the country’s north. Forty-three people, including journalists, were on board the… pic.twitter.com/xbPQeNF9MA
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) December 18, 2024
“We’ve just reopened,” said Ali Rifai, a public relations official for Syria’s new caretaker transitional government. “Thank God this was possible with our combined efforts with the old Syrian cadre,” Mr Rifai added, referring to airport staff who returned to work following the formation of the caretaker government. “All is going well,” concluded Rifai.
On December 18, 2024, Flightradar 24 shows that the airport has flights due to depart to a range of destinations which include Cairo, Moscow, and Karachi.
Syria’s two commercial airlines, Syrian Airlines and Cham Wings are planning a full resumption of services in the coming weeks. Syrian Airlines, more commonly known as Syrianair, has been operating under US sanctions since the early 1980s which has led to a huge reduction in its services and route network due to its inability to procure new aircraft or spare parts for its existing fleet.
According to ch-aviation, the carrier has eight Airbus A320s, two A340-300s, two Tupolev Tu-134Bs, and two Ilyushin Il-76 cargo planes on its books. However, six of the A320s and both A340s are shown as parked due to the lack of spare parts to keep them airworthy. Before the overthrowing of the Assad regime, the carrier operated four routes to five destinations across three countries. Syria’s only other mainline carrier, Cham Wings Airlines operates a fleet of five A320s serving two routes to three destinations.
The new Syrian revolutionary flag is being painted with a roller on the Syrian Air #Airbus A320 (YK-AKG) aircraft after the fall of Bashar Assad.#Syria #Damascus #Assad #BasharAssad #A320 #aviation #AvGeek #avgeeks #flights #Travel #traveler pic.twitter.com/EmpWJZBZjW
— FlightMode (@FlightModeblog) December 15, 2024
On December 14, 2024, posts on social media showed airport workers repainting the national flag on Syrian Airlines A320 YK-AKG from the former Assad-era version of the national flag which featured two green starts along its central band. This has since been replaced by the ‘Independence Flag’ which features three red stars in the same position.
Following the overthrowing of his rule and the fall of his regime, Assad arrived in Moscow with his wife and children, along with several of his former officials where they have been granted political asylum by President Putin.