DAMASCUS, Jan 4, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Syria said on Saturday the country's main 
airport in Damascus would resume international flights starting next week 
after such commercial trips were halted following last month's ousting of 
president Bashar al-Assad.

"We announce we will start receiving international flights to and from 
Damascus International Airport from" Tuesday, state news agency SANA said, 
quoting Ashhad al-Salibi, who heads the General Authority of Civil Aviation 
and Air Transport.

"We reassure Arab and international airlines that we have begun the phase of 
rehabilitating the Aleppo and Damascus airports with our partners' help, so 
that they can welcome flights from all over the world," he said.

International aid planes and foreign diplomatic delegations have already been 
landing in Syria. Domestic flights have also resumed.

Syrian Airlines will resume flights from Damascus to Dubai, in the United 
Arab Emirates, starting on Tuesday, an employee told AFP requesting anonymity 
because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

On Thursday, Qatar Airways announced it would resume flights to the Syrian 
capital after nearly 13 years, starting with three weekly flights from 
Tuesday.

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 on 
December 8 took off from Damascus airport to Aleppo in the country's north, 
AFP journalists saw.