First Syria flight takes off from Damascus airport since Assad’s downfall

As efforts get under way to restart economy, UN envoy calls for ‘free and fair elections’ after transition.

The first commercial flight in Syria since the toppling of longtime President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month has taken off from Damascus airport.

The flight landed in Aleppo, in the country’s north, on Wednesday with 43 people on board including a group of journalists.

Pro-Assad forces abandoned the airport in the capital on December 8 as opposition fighters closed in on the city following a lightning offensive that began on November 27. Since then, no flights had taken off or landed due to security reasons.

Earlier this week, airport staff painted the pro-opposition three-star flag on aeroplanes, a symbol of the 2011 uprising now adopted by the transitional authorities. Inside the terminal, the new flag has also replaced the one associated with the government of al-Assad, who fled to Russia.

An airport official told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity that international flights would resume on December 24, following maintenance work.