Qatar Airways announced the resumption of its flights, with a rate of three flights per week, becoming the first airline to resume flights to Syria after the fall of the Assad regime.

The airline stated in its announcement on Thursday, January 2, that it will begin operating its first flights on January 7 to Damascus International Airport.

It added that the decision to resume flights was in response to the increasing demand from travelers and a confirmation of its commitment to enhancing regional connectivity.

Qatar Airways confirmed that it is working with the relevant authorities to ensure that flights to Syria meet the necessary safety, security, and operational standards before resuming operations in five days.

Qatar Airways CEO Engineer Badr Mohammed al-Meer stated, “We are pleased to announce the resumption of Qatar Airways flights to Syria, a country with a rich history and culture.”

Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution in 2011, which led to the overthrow of the former regime led by Bashar al-Assad, relations between Syria and Qatar were severed; they resumed after the regime’s fall on December 8, 2024.

Qatar Airways is the first international company to resume flights to Damascus after the fall of the Syrian regime.

In the previous era, only a limited number of international airlines operated flights to Damascus, including Iranian, Iraqi, and Lebanese airlines.

Several international companies have expressed their willingness to resume flights, including Turkish and Jordanian airlines, amid increasing demand to reach Damascus via airports from Syrian refugees and expatriates in neighboring countries and Europe after the regime’s fall.

Air traffic at Aleppo and Damascus International Airports was halted during the military operations that overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s regime, with the first commercial flight taking off from Damascus International Airport to Aleppo, after the regime’s fall, on December 18, 2024, as a trial flight.