With the fall of Damascus, security forces of the deposed Bashar al-Assad government and staff withdrew from the Damascus International Airport, grounding flights and stranding passengers. The airport has not been functional since.
Now, security members of the opposition alliance in control of Syria have taken control of the airport, hoping to restore security, a sense of confidence, and the legitimacy needed to restart flights out of the capital, and from one of the country’s three international airports.
“Damascus international airport is the heart of the city because it is the gateway for international delegations and missions,” Omar al-Shami, a security official with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the faction that led the shock offensive that led to the fall of Assad, told The Associated Press, calling it "the passage for Syria to breathe.”
Al-Shami said security was restored at the international airport nearly 12 hours after the fall of Damascus. The factions entered the capital before dawn, and security members of the opposition alliance took charge before sunset on Sunday. He said he hoped the airport would be operational in less than a week.
On Wednesday, a handful of engineers were inspecting four planes that were on the tarmac. Cleaning staff were removing broken furniture, glass windows, and trash from ransacking by looters following the fall of Damascus. The attack, reportedly by mobs and looters from the neighboring areas, left parts of the airport halls destroyed, with smashed furniture and merchandise.
“There was a lot of damage in the airport’s equipment and facilities in 90% of the sections,” Anis Fallouh, the head of the airport, told the AP.
Fallouh said the operations to clean up the airport aim to convince international airlines to resume their flights to Damascus. “Soon in the coming days, flights will resume when we reopen air traffic to Syria and inform countries that Damascus airport is operational. We may start with domestic or test flights to ensure that everything in the airport is operational and avoid any mistakes. Then we can resume international flights.”
Engineers were inspecting the four planes on the tarmac, from two Syrian airlines. Some administrative staff were visiting the airport as the new administrators of Damascus work to convince state officials to return to their posts.
“We are on the Airbus 320, the technical team. Because of the security vacuum that happened on Sunday, some ill-intentioned people tried to cause damage but thank God the plane is fine — the body, the engines and its systems. Some things are missing and we are trying to fix that,” said Bassam Radi, the engineer in charge of maintenance, said.
