LONDON: Dusseldorf became the fourth European city — after Amsterdam, Bucharest, and Moscow — to be directly connected to the Syrian Arab Republic following a flight on Wednesday by German carrier LEAV Aviation that landed at Damascus International Airport.
The flight restored a direct aviation route between Germany and Syria after a hiatus of nearly 14 years, during which Damascus was disconnected from European cities — with the exception of the Russian capital — due to the civil war.
LEAV Aviation has scheduled another flight on Aug. 1 between Cologne and Aleppo, which hosts Syria’s second-largest airport.
Sundair, another German airline, starts direct flights between Berlin and Damascus on Aug. 1, and between Berlin and Aleppo on Oct. 1, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
Germany hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees in Western Europe, with at least 1 million residing in the country. The new routes are expected to offer additional travel options for Syrians and tourists from Germany visiting the country, according to Syria’s General Authority of Civil Aviation and Air Transport.
Dan Air became the first airline from the EU to restart regular flights to Syria on its Bucharest to Damascus route last year.
The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 and ended with the fall of President Bashar Assad and his regime in December 2024, caused major airlines to cancel their aviation routes to the country, effectively isolating it from the rest of the world. Syrians used nearby airports in Lebanon and Jordan to reach other destinations after traveling overland.
Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa met Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in March to discuss Berlin’s investments and efforts to repatriate Syrian refugees.
