Syrian Airlines launches first flight from Amsterdam to Damascus after years of suspension, media says

The first direct Syrian Airlines flight from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands to Damascus took off on Thursday, marking the resumption of direct flights between the two countries after years of suspension, Syria’s news agency SANA reported.

The new route is part of a plan to restore and expand the number of destinations served by Syria’s national carrier to Europe, it said.

Direct flights between European airports and Syria are gradually resuming after nearly 14 years of suspension.

In addition to Syrian Airlines launching regular flights between Damascus and Amsterdam, Romania’s Dan Air began operating flights from Bucharest to Aleppo as of July 1. Dan Air resumed flights to Damascus in June 2025.

Preparations are also underway in Germany to operate a direct route between Berlin and Damascus in early August.

In June, Syria’s General Civil Aviation Authority said the number of airlines that had resumed flights to and from the country had risen to 12.

The shift comes after years of a sharp decline in air traffic over Syria, which began gradually in 2012 because of unstable security conditions and subsequent international classifications that treated Syrian airspace as a risk area.

Following the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, 2024, Israel declared the collapse of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and occupied a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border.

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