Saudi low-cost carrier flynas will launch direct scheduled flights between Damascus and Madinah on 19 November, giving Syrian travellers a new link to Islam’s second holiest city.
Syria’s General Authority of Civil Aviation and Air Transport announced the route on its Telegram channel, saying it would widen travel options for passengers and strengthen air links between Syria and Saudi Arabia, according to the state news agency SANA. The new service follows flynas’s inaugural flight from Riyadh to Damascus on 19 April.
Madinah, home to the Prophet’s Mosque, is a major destination for pilgrims, many of whom combine it with Umrah in Makkah.
Damascus International Airport now lists 23 destinations in 22 cities across 14 countries, and 17 airlines operated there in October, according to the civil aviation authority. Its network includes Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Vienna and several German cities, along with links to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Turkey and Jordan.
More carriers are lining up. A delegation from Egypt’s Air Cairo visited Damascus International Airport on 9 November to review procedures and assess the requirements for flights between Syria and Egypt.
Syria’s air network has been rebuilding steadily. flydubai launched daily flights to Aleppo alongside its three daily Damascus services, Germany’s LEAV Aviation flew the first European route to Deir ez-Zor, and work has begun on rehabilitating Latakia airport. On the ground, Syria has signed a deal with Eagle Hills for tourism projects in Damascus and Latakia.
