(Bloomberg) -- Syria’s main airports suspended operations following the collapse of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, halting the few remaining flights that had maintained a low level of international connectivity in the past decade.
Damascus International Airport issued a notice halting all flights until Dec. 18, following a similar move a few days earlier by the airfield in Aleppo. Syrian Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, grounded all flights, while foreign airlines including Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines and Iraqi Airways said they would avoid the country’s airspace.
Syria had already lost many international connections over the past decade in the wake of the Arab Spring uprising that was violently suppressed by now-deposed President Assad. Syrian Air has a fleet of 12 aircraft, including Airbus SE A320 and larger A340 aircraft, though most of the planes are listed as parked, according to tracking site planespotters.
Alongside privately held Cham Wings, Syrian Airlines has been sanctioned by the US and the European Union, meaning the airlines cannot conduct flights to these destinations or buy aircraft containing parts from those regions of the world. The two local carriers maintained some connections to destinations in the region, including the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and Russia, according to the their websites.
Assad, whose family had ruled over the country for the past half century, fled Syria after Islamist-led forces entered the capital. He landed in Moscow on Sunday, where he and his family were granted asylum, TASS state media reported.
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