Syria, Germany sign air transport agreement, launch joint committee to advance bilateral cooperation

Deputy Director General of the Syrian Civil Aviation and Air Transport Authority, Samih al-Arabi (R), and State Secretary of the German Federal Foreign Office, Geza Andreas von Geyr (L), sign a civil aviation cooperation agreement during a ceremony attended by Syrian Foreign Minister Asad Hasan Sheybani at the Tishreen Palace in Damascus, Syria on July 16, 2026. [Izz Aldien Alqasem – Anadolu Agency]

Syria and Germany signed an air transport agreement on Thursday and announced the formation of a joint committee to advance cooperation on economic recovery, reconstruction, investment and refugee issues.

The declaration establishing the Syrian-German Joint Committee was signed in Damascus by Qutaiba Kadish, director of international cooperation at Syria’s Foreign Ministry, and German Minister of State at the Foreign Office Geza Andreas von Geyr, the SANA news agency reported.

Following the signing, the committee held its inaugural session, co-chaired by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and von Geyr.

According to SANA, the committee will address economic recovery, reconstruction, efforts to attract joint investments, and cooperation in the energy, transport and civil aviation sectors.

It will also discuss transitional justice, missing persons, Syrian refugees in Germany and ways to facilitate their voluntary return.

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Separately, Samah Arabi, deputy head of Syria’s General Authority for Civil Aviation and Air Transport, and von Geyr signed an air transport agreement between the two countries.

SANA said the agreement builds on a joint declaration of intent signed in Berlin on March 30 and establishes the legal and regulatory framework governing air links between Syria and Germany.

The implementation phase will include coordination between the two countries’ civil aviation authorities, designation of airlines, regulation of traffic rights and flight frequencies, and the issuance of the technical and security approvals required to operate flights.

Germany reopened its embassy in Damascus on March 25, 2025, after a 13-year closure prompted by the security situation during the uprising against the Bashar al-Assad regime between 2011 and 2024.

On March 29, 2026, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who assumed office following Assad’s ouster, paid an official visit to Berlin.

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