The first direct Syrian Airlines flight from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands to Damascus has taken off, marking the resumption of direct flights between the two countries after years of suspension.
The new route is part of a plan to restore and expand the number of destinations served by Syria’s national carrier to Europe, Syria’s news agency SANA said on Thursday.
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.
Preparation of the Berlin-Damascus route
Preparations are also under way 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 December 8, 2024, Israel declared the collapse of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and occupied a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border.
