Agreement Signed in Damascus
Syria and Saudi Arabia signed a bilateral air transport agreement in Damascus on 27 August 2026. The accord was concluded by the head of Syria's General Authority for Civil Aviation and the Saudi minister of transport and logistics services during a ceremony held in the capital.
The document updates an executive work program that dated back to 2007, resetting the legal framework that governs scheduled commercial flights between the two countries and the terms under which their airlines may operate.
Open-Skies Framework
The agreement is built on open-skies principles, allowing carriers from both sides to expand operations and open new routes according to commercial viability and market demand rather than fixed capacity ceilings imposed in advance.
Under the terms, airlines may raise flight frequencies and add destinations without the traditional restrictions that limited earlier arrangements. That flexibility gives operators room to scale service in step with demand and to adjust schedules as traffic between the two markets develops.
Routes to a Key Market
Saudi Arabia was described as a strategic market for Syrian air travel, spanning family visits, hajj and umrah pilgrimages, and business and investment traffic between the two economies.
Officials presented the accord as one element of a broader push to reconnect Syria with Arab and regional aviation networks, positioning air links as part of the country's wider reopening to its neighbors.
Pending Ratification
The agreement requires legislative approval in both countries before it enters into force. Until that step is completed, the open-skies provisions remain a signed framework rather than an operating regime, and existing flight arrangements continue to apply.
No timetable for ratification was announced, leaving the pace of implementation to each country's legislative process.
What Ratification Would Unlock
Once ratified, the arrangement would clear the way for carriers to schedule expanded services, add frequencies, and open routes that commercial demand supports. No start date for new flights was announced, and any expansion would depend on airlines' own capacity and planning.