First commercial flight since the fall of Assad lands in Syria's capital

The first international commercial flight since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad landed Tuesday at the Damascus airport, arriving from Qatar.

Jordanian state-run Petra news agency also reported that a Royal Jordanian Airlines plane departed heading to Damascus on a test flight.

The head of the Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission, Capt. Haitham Misto, who was on board the flight with a team of specialists, said that the aim was to evaluate the technical condition of the Damascus airport before resuming regular flights.

Since the lightning rebel offensive that unseated Assad a month ago, Arab and Western countries that had cut off relations with the former government have been reopening diplomatic relations with Syria’s new de facto authorities, headed by the Islamist former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS.

Passengers wait for their flight at the Damascus International Airport on Tuesday. AFP

Syria’s new foreign minister had met with his Qatari counterpart and Qatar’s prime minister in Doha on Sunday.

Associated Press