Direct flights between Dammam and Damascus will help families reunite and improve transportation between the two countries for more than 2.5 million Syrians living in Saudi Arabia.
A Syrian Air aircraft departed King Fahd International Airport in Dammam for Damascus on March 19, marking the return of flights between the two cities after a 13-year break.
Syrian Air resumed operations at Saudi airports in 2024, and the morning flight is an addition to the direct service from the Kingdom’s three major cities to Syria.
When Bashar Assad’s crackdown on anti-government protesters at the beginning of the country’s civil war caused Riyadh to cut off relations with Damascus in 2012, passenger flights between the two nations were suspended.
In May 2024, services between Syria and the Kingdom temporarily resumed for pilgrims taking part in the yearly Hajj. Faisal bin Saud Al-Mujfel was appointed Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Syria a few days prior to the first group of 270 Syrian travellers arriving in Jeddah on May 28.
Amid improving relations, commercial flights between Saudi Arabia and Syria resumed in July 2024 after a 12-year ban. When a Syrian Air plane carrying 170 passengers from Damascus touched down in Riyadh, regular operations resumed. The reopening of flights between Damascus and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah in November came next.
After arriving in Riyadh in January 2024, Syria’s ambassador to the Kingdom, Mohammed Ayman Soussan, stated that the two nations had decided to run a weekly round-trip flight between the two capitals. In April 2023, Saudi Arabia and Syria decided to resume consular services after the diplomatic lapse, and in May 2023, full relations were restored.
In January 2025, international flights started operating again at Damascus International Airport for the first time since President Bashar Assad was overthrown at the beginning of the year.
Since the overthrow of the previous president, Saudi Arabia has sent relief aircraft to Syria in an effort to help with the ongoing crisis. The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, also known as KSrelief, has coordinated these humanitarian efforts and provided the Syrian people with vital supplies, such as food, shelter, and medical assistance, to help them deal with their difficult situation.