Syrian Airlines History

The Syrian Airlines is the messenger of Syria to the countries of the world, where the journey of the ascension has begun to its splendor, to be the diamond in the sky, and the sun of Syria that reflects the golden rays in all the corners of the world, and to say we came from the cradle of civilization transporting Home Flag to the world, where civilization was born and transformed to the whole world on the wings of the Syrian Bird, the Phoenix.

Syrian Airlines:

Syrian Airlines was established in autumn 1946, starting with two propeller planes type Sisnamester, and started to fly between Damascus, Aleppo, Der Alzour, and Kamishli.
The Airlines expanded its routes during the fifties to include Beirut, Baghdad, Amman, Jerusalem, then Cairo and Kuwait then Doha, in addition to seasonal flights during Hajj.

In 1952, the Airlines was enforced with three aircrafts Dakota type DC3, and in 1954 with four aircrafts type DC4, and with four aircrafts type DC6 in 1957.

Syrian Airlines merged with Egypt Airlines in 1960 under the name of United Arab Airlines, and it separated in 1961.

In 1963 – 1964, two more aircrafts were enforced with Jet Super Caravel to expand the Arabic and international routes to Athens – Munich –Rome – Prague – Paris – London, towards the west to Zahran – Sharja – Dubai – Karachi – Delhi – Tehran – Nicosia. Then it stopped all the old Dakota DC4.

Syrian Airlines joined the Arab Air Carriers’ Organization (AACO) since it was established in 1965. Then, it joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in 1967, and used to attend all the meetings and conferences for Arabic and International Air Associations.

In 1971, two more Super Caravel aircrafts were enforced, so it expanded to new routes towards Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, Benghazi, Budapest, and Moscow.

Syrian Airlines expanded its routes by opening new routes to Sofia, Copenhagen, Tripoli, Tunisia, Algiers, Casablanca, and Sana’a in 1947.

Syrian Airlines changed its name from company to institution by the Republican Decree NO. 2748 on 11/11/1975.

In 1975, all aircraft types DC6 were withdrawn from operating any route, and the whole fleet was operating with Jet aircrafts, where three new aircrafts type Boeing 727 were leased from British companies and remained till mid-1976. Then, three new aircrafts type Boeing 727 and two aircrafts Boeing 747 were received.

In the second half of the seventies, it was expanded in operating to new routes towards Bucharest, Istanbul, Mumbai and Bahrain.

In the eighties, three more aircrafts type TU154 were enforced, which increased the frequency of flights to the earlier mentioned routes. New routes were operating to Frankfurt and Riyadh.

In the first half of the nineties, three more aircrafts type Boeing 727 were enforced, so the frequency of the flights increased towards all stations.

In the second half of nineties (1998-1999), six more aircrafts type Airbus A302 were enforced that increased the frequency of flights and enhanced the operating capacity of Syrian Airlines in operating casual flights, Hajj and Omrah flights.

In the beginning of 2000 and during the period between 2000 and 2005, new routes were operating to Brussels, Vienna, Milan, Barcelona, and Copenhagen route was back in operation.

Some of the stations were closed because they no longer had any economical feasibility, like Prague, Budapest, Sofia, and Muscat.

Syrian Airlines was a pioneer in owning modern computer systems, as it moved in 1981 from manual reservation to Gabriel fully automated reservation system. That was created after building the infrastructure of the Airlines network with necessary computer equipments inside and outside the country between 1979 & 1980. So, it was a quantum leap for the Airlines to enter a new area in other software, beginning with the manual search system for the lost and found (Back Track). Then in 1982, it was followed by another system called Load Star for automated departure, where passenger acceptance and the balance and weight of the aircraft load are automated. This system was followed by another one in 1985 called Bahamas for managing passengers’ lost and found. Then, in 1986 there was Sahara system for hotel reservation, and Timatec system for travelling information. Syrian Airlines has kept up pace with the latest developments, and worked on developing the reservation system once again, and developed the automated departure system in 1988-1989. Also, it moved to another new system for automated search for lost and found called World Tracer.

In 1989, the Syrian Airlines stared participating in the study of the application of comprehensive distribution systems for travel and tourist agents, in partnership with Arab Airlines and under the umbrella of Arab Air Carriers’ Organization, which started investing in Syria in 1994. It also applied automated pricing system in 1990 and followed it with the automated system of tickets issuance in 1992. The paradigm shift of the Syrian Airlines was when it owned its grand mainframe computer in 1996 to automate the Airlines’ revenues, in addition to a lot of computerized programs in different areas for the Airlines’ Directorates (Archive, salaries, internet, intranet, human resources, cabin crew…).

Syrian Airlines’ network has expanded horizontally and vertically, so that it increased its flights to some stations according to the operating requirements and increasing the number of stations that reached more than 44 stations in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Now, it flies to 11 external stations like: Dubai – Sharjah – Abu Dhabi – Baghdad – Najaf – Cairo – Khartoum – Doha – Kuwait – Bahrain – Moscow.

Syrian Airlines owns a huge number of ground equipments to serve the crew, engineers, and all workers in it, inside the airport and Damascus city.

Syrian Airlines has its own catering department. It was built in 1979 and enforced with some specialist workers. It provides more than a million meals annually.

Syrian Airlines has a training center that offers training for the staff inside and outside the Airlines, such as the Airlines that work and are licensed in the country, and tourist and travelling agents, cargo companies, and granting them the necessary certificates duly. That would contribute to achieving a significant financial return for the Airlines.

Syrian Airlines considered Aleppo as the second Syrian window to the world. So it launched a new international flight for the Syrian Airlines and other Airlines to fly all destinations since the early fifties, where regular international flights took place to Beirut, Mosul, Amman, Kuwait, and Alexandria.

Syrian Airlines has opened offices all over the country to offer its services to the public. A small office in Ramses Hotel in Aleppo was opened in 1948, and an office in Kamishli in 1952. A branch in Aleppo was opened in 1958 in Baron Street, and an office in Hama in 1989, Der Alzour in 1987, Daraa in 1992, and Homs in 2001.

Syrian Airlines opened a new office in Tartous in 2002, in addition to the old one that was opened in 1986. Also, it opened a branch in Lattakia in 1980, and an office in Suweda in 1991, and Edleb in 2004.

Syrian Airlines provides ground handling for all carriers operating in Syria airports, for that it has a big number of new and enough equipments for ground services. It serves more than 35 international airlines in Damascus, and 14 in Aleppo.

In the Martyr Bassel Alassad Airport, the policy of open sky has been in force since 1999. The Airport could accommodate large aircrafts from all over the world to activate the tourist and economic movement in Syria. In 2005, Kamishli Airport followed the same policy of open sky.

Syrian Airlines has connected the Syrian cities with regular daily internal flights. It transferred between 900.000 to 1.000.000 passengers on its international flights. Also, it serviced more than 5000 foreign airlines that landed in Syria, and more than three thousand Syrian flights. In 2004, the number of passengers reached more than 1.200.000 passengers.

In order to develop Syrian Airlines services, Customer Service Department was founded in Damascus Airport to provide the best service when passengers arrive and when they depart.

A new department to promote tourism was established in the Directorate of Commercial Affairs and Marketing, aiming to increase the tourist groups in collaboration with the Tourism Agents in Syria.

Syrian Airlines has been recently enforced with a wide type of Airbus 340, with a capacity of 285 passengers, including 24 business class passengers, and 30 tons of cargo. It will be invested in long-distance flights in the near future.

Syrian Airlines has obtained the International Organization Safety Audit (IOSA) since 2007, and its validity is renewed every two years in accordance with an entitlement that includes specific conditions and standards that achieve operational safety according to international requirements that are adopted by the Airlines and it is committed to them. The Syrian Airlines is currently underway to obtain the IOSA Certificate for the year 2021.

Despite the circumstances, sanctions and external pressures that Syrian Airlines has been subjected to as a result of the aggressive war on Syria and its capabilities and bounties. In addition to the unjust embargo and sanctions on it, Syrian Airlines primary goal was to maintain the continuity of its operation without any interruption, and providing air transport services for citizens on internal and external stations within a well-studied pricing policy that takes into account the living situation of passengers on board.

The name of the Syrian Arab Airlines was changed to Syrian Airlines according to the Republican Decree No. 1 of 2021.

Syrian Airlines always seeks to maintain its ancient logo “Syrian Airlines means safety”.