First Passenger Plane from the EU Lands in Damascus After 13 Years
The first passenger plane from an airline based in the European Union landed at Damascus International Airport after a long suspension of air traffic between Syria and the EU, the Syrian news agency SANA reported.
The plane, operated by the small Romanian company Dan Air, arrived from Bucharest carrying 138 passengers, including foreigners and Syrians, among them officials from the Syrian government, the agency wrote.
This is the first time in 13 years that a passenger plane on a regular route from an EU member state has landed in Syria.
The Romanian agency had previously announced plans to reestablish the connection with Damascus. The small low-cost airline operates only three planes, and the service to Damascus is expected to run four times a week.
On board the plane was Syrian Minister of Economy Mohammad Nidal al-Shaar, who was welcomed in Damascus by a delegation from the Romanian embassy. A representative of Dan Air told SANA that on the return flight to Bucharest there would be 125 passengers.
Dan Air also announced that starting in July, it will be possible to travel to Damascus from Berlin via a layover. SANA reported that connections to Frankfurt and Stockholm will also be available soon.
The EU and Western countries only recently lifted sanctions that had been imposed on Syria during the authoritarian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Dan Air CEO Matt Ian David stated that the company is “reopening doors for trade relations with Syria.”
Dan Air’s move followed a bilateral agreement between Romania and Syria, as well as a license granted by Romanian authorities, which was also approved by the Syrian government at the end of April.
