Syrian national airline resumes flights to Saudi city of Jeddah after eight-year pause

The Syrian regime’s transport ministry announced on Sunday that national carrier Syrian Air’s flights from Damascus to the Saudi city of Jeddah would resume, 18 months after Saudi Arabia and the regime normalised ties.

Flights will restart again on 7 November, according to the regime’s SANA news agency, and will operate twice weekly.

These will be the first commercial flights from Damascus to Jeddah for over eight years. Flights are already operating between Damascus and the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Syrian Air General Director Hatem Kabbas told SANA that the resumption of the route would "serve the community between the two countries and invigorate transport and communication at all levels".

Commercial flights between Jeddah and Damascus were originally suspended in May 2016.

Saudi Arabia, like many Arab and Western states, broke off diplomatic relations with the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad in 2012, after it brutally suppressed anti-government protests, killing thousands of people.

The situation degenerated into a brutal conflict that killed over 500,000 people, mostly the result of regime bombardments of civilian areas. Saudi Arabia provided limited backing to Syrian opposition forces.

However, relations between Saudi Arabia and the Syrian regime were restored in April 2023, with Bashar al-Assad being welcomed to an Arab League summit in Jeddah by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the following month.