First FlyDubai flight landed Sunday in Damascus after 12-year suspension

After more than 12 years of suspension, the first flight of the Emirati company FlyDubai landed Sunday at Damascus airport, reported the state-run Syrian agency SANA. The low-cost airline announced the resumption of its flights last week to serve the Syrian capital for Eid al-Adha.

The flights were suspended due to the civil war in Syria, after the regime of Bashar al-Assad, which fell on Dec. 8, sought to brutally crush a popular uprising that began in 2011.

Present at the landing of this first flight: the UAE ambassador to Syria, Hassan Ahmed al-Shehhi, who was accompanied by an official delegation, as well as the vice president of the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority, Abdelbari al-Saj.

The President of the United Arab Emirates said on April 13 that his country wanted to support the reconstruction of Syria, during a meeting in Abu Dhabi with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Mohammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan stated the the UAE's willingness to support this country in facing the challenges of the transitional phase. The day after this official visit, the General Authority of Civil Aviation of the United Arab Emirates announced the resumption of flights between the Emirates and Syria.

Sharaa, head of the Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led the coalition of rebel factions that overthrew Bashar al-Assad, after a lightning offensive.