Syrian Airlines resumes Damascus-Moscow flights after 18-month gap

Syrian Airlines resumed flights between Damascus and Moscow on August 16, 2026, restoring a route suspended since December 2024 because of Syria's political situation. The inaugural flight landed at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport in the early morning, and the return service to Damascus International Airport departed later the same day.

The carrier said the route is expected to operate weekly, with flights scheduled every Sunday.

Omar Al Hosari, head of Syria's General Authority of Civil Aviation, said the move is part of a broader push to rebuild the airline's regional and international network and reconnect the country with the wider world. Further route launches are planned, he said, including new European destinations to be announced over time.

The Moscow resumption follows a string of other route restarts this year. A direct service from Berlin reached Damascus on August 15, ending a gap of nearly 14 years between the two cities. Syrian Airlines had also relaunched flights to Amsterdam in early July and resumed a weekly service to Madinah, Saudi Arabia, in mid-August.

The airline, widely known as Syrianair, has operated under US sanctions since the early 1980s. Those restrictions have long limited its ability to buy new aircraft or obtain spare parts, constraining the size and condition of its fleet even as it now works to expand its route map.