International air links resumed today at Damascus airport for the first time since the fall of Bashar al-Assad on 8 December last year, Agence France Presse correspondents have learned.
The first Syrian Airlines plane took off for Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates at 11:45 am (08:45 am in Lisbon).
It was the first international commercial flight to take off from Damascus international airport in almost a month, which has already welcomed planes loaded with humanitarian aid.
Syria's new leaders have recently reiterated their calls for help from Gulf countries to rebuild the country devastated by more than 13 years of war.
The Syrian president was overthrown on 8 December by a coalition of rebel factions led by the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
