Türkiye's flag carrier, Turkish Airlines (THY), restarted its flights to the Syrian capital, landing in Damascus on Thursday, following a nearly 13-year hiatus due to civil war in the country.
The first flight was expected to take off at 9 a.m. local time (6 a.m. GMT) this morning. After a brief delay, the plane successfully left for Damascus, the live flight tracker revealed.
The plane, taking off from Istanbul Airport, was due to land at Damascus International Airport after a nearly two-hour flight. In addition to the passengers, Turkish Airlines executives will also be on the first flight, local media reports said.
The data from Flightradar.com showed that Turkish Airlines landed in Damascus at 11:29.
The first Turkish Airlines flight in 13 years landed in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Thursday, an Agence France Presse (AFP) correspondent also reported.
"The first Turkish Airlines passenger plane landed at Damascus International Airport after a hiatus of some 13 years, with Syrian passengers on board," Syria's official news agency SANA reported.
Bilal Ekşi, the CEO of THY, announced earlier this month that there would be three flights a week starting on Jan. 23.
"We are returning to Damascus," Ekşi said in a post on the social media platform X.
"I hope that the flights we have restarted will contribute to the relations between our countries," AFP quoted him as saying on Thursday.
Direct flights between the two cities will be organized from Istanbul Airport to Damascus International Airport at 9 a.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Return flights will be made at 1 p.m. on the same days.
Many Syrians who were due to fly to their homeland were spotted at the airport carrying flags and celebrating with songs, a report by Demirören News Agency (DHA) said.
Turkish Airlines suspended all flights to Syria following the outbreak of the civil war in 2011.
It operated its last flight to Syria on March 31, 2012.
Türkiye was the main backer of opposition forces that ousted Bashar Assad last month and ended his family's decades-long rule.
Türkiye became the first country to announce the reopening of its Embassy in Damascus after a 12-year closure.
It has urged for the lifting of international sanctions on Syria to support basic public services and facilitate reconstruction of the war-shattered country. Türkiye has said it would help resume commercial flights to Damascus, noting that its airport lacked a radar system.
Nearly 350 passengers boarded the flight to Damascus International Airport after doing ticket and passport checks, an Anadolu Agency (AA) report said.
Passenger Fatma Zehra told reporters that she had come to Türkiye when she was only 2 years old and was very excited to return along with her family to her homeland where she was born.
Now 14 years old, Zehra said: "I've never seen my country. I'm so excited to see it for the first time. We will be going from Damascus to Aleppo. I'll see my grandmother there."
Some 4 million Syrians took refuge in neighboring Türkiye during the war, more than any other country.
Ahmet Kiraz, another passenger, said he came to Türkiye in 2012, built a life by studying and working, and never expected to return to Syria.
"We thought we would never go back," he said. "But when the opportunity came, we were so happy. I'm returning to my country on the first flight; it feels like a dream."
