Dubai, UAE – Emirates yesterday officially returned to the Syrian capital Damascus, putting the “City of Jasmine” back on its expansive network of Middle East destinations. The world’s largest international airline is ready to reconnect travellers with the city and destinations across six continents.
Flight EK913 arrived at 2:30 pm with 286 passengers onboard and was celebrated upon arrival at Damascus International Airport, greeted with a water cannon salute.
H.E. Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Sports and Chairman of the UAE Space Agency headed the UAE delegation along with Emirates executives who were onboard the flight and led the ceremony upon arrival, including Adel Al Redha, Deputy President and Chief Operations Officer; Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, Divisional Senior Vice President International Affairs; Adil Al Ghaith, Senior Vice President Commercial Operations (Centre); Sami Aqil, Senior Vice President – Emirates Airport Services Outstation and Business Support; Nick Moore, Senior Vice President, Passenger and Hub operations and Ahmad Al Khamis – Vice President, Aeropolitical Affairs.
The delegation also included H.E Omar Bin Ghaleb, Deputy Director General, UAE General Civil Aviation Authority; H.E Obaid Saif Mohammed Alnuaimi, Executive Director Aviation Security and Accident Investigation Sector, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; Hamad Ibrahim Essa Taher, Head of Aviation Security, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; and Ahmed Saqer Al Marri, Dubai Group Security, Dubai Police; in addition to UAE media and other distinguished guests. The first flight was welcomed by a VIP delegation including H.E. Hasan Ahmed Al-Shehhi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Syria; Amjad Nakhal, Director of the Chairman’s Office, General Authority of Civil Aviation; Anis Fallouh, Director of Damascus International Airport; Colonel Omar Abdel Baqi, Head of Security, Damascus International Airport and Alaa Sallal, Director of PR, General Authority of Civil Aviation; in the presence of other representatives of the General Authority of Civil Aviation and Damascus International Airport, as well as media.
Adil Al Ghaith, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Commercial Operations (Centre) highlighted the significance of the airline’s operations to the Syrian capital. He said: “Today marks a significant milestone as we celebrate the return of Emirates to Damascus. By providing our services and connecting Damascus to the world, we are helping to reunite families, friends, and communities who have long awaited easier access to their loved ones.
“The UAE and Syria have historically enjoyed strong bilateral ties and the country has always been an important market for Emirates, since our first flights to the country in 1988. Through our passenger operations, we aim to serve as a vital facilitator for tourism, trade and investment and, in connecting Syria to almost 150 destinations across our network, we hope to be a valuable enabler of its recovery. We would like to thank the Syrian and UAE authorities and General Authority of Civil Aviation for their cooperation and commitment to making the resumption of services possible.”
Senior members of the Syrian delegation, Emirates’ leadership and VIPs from Dubai participated in a cake-cutting ceremony and symbolic gift exchange to commemorate the restart of services and long-standing partnership with the country.
Alaa Sallal, Director of Public Relations at the General Authority of Civil Aviation, Syria, stated: “The teams from the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority and the United Arab Emirates worked tirelessly, through high-level coordination and a shared vision, to meet all requirements necessary to resume air operations. These fruitful efforts culminated in the successful reinstatement of Emirates’ flights to Damascus – a step that reflects the depth of cooperation between both sides and their shared commitment to strengthening fraternal and economic ties.”
Emirates’ services to Damascus will initially operate three times per week, on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday, with plans to increase services to four-weekly from 2 August* with an additional flight on Saturday. Emirates will expand its services to Damascus to daily operations effective 26 October*. Emirates customers flying to and from Damascus will also benefit from the airline’s codeshare partnership with flydubai, which will complement its flight schedule and network, providing more options and convenience when flying in and out of the Syrian capital.
The Emirates Boeing 777-200LR aircraft operating to and from Damascus features 38 Business Class seats alongside 264 seats in Economy Class. Emirates Business Class on the Damascus service will feature a 2-2-2 configuration. Travellers flying to and from Damascus with Emirates can enjoy the best experience in the sky with an unmatched culinary experience, including mezze appetisers followed by local and international dishes to choose from. Emirates’ in-flight dining is prepared by a team of chefs from all over the world, including Syrian hands. Emirates’ signature mezze is prepared from a diverse spread of quality ingredients, many of which are Syrian products including tahini paste, red pepper paste and olive oil.
Customers can also sit back and relax with up to 6,500 channels of carefully curated entertainment, including close to 650 channels of Arabic content, including movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, games, audiobooks and more with ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system. Passengers travelling on the route can watch from a selection of 41 popular Syrian series and dramas including Nafas, Bi Al Dam, and Tout Al Aswad. Up to 380 Arabic movies are also available to view including 51 new releases.
Emirates commenced services to Damascus in 1988, and prior to suspending operations in 2012 the airline carried over 2.1 million passengers in and out of Syria. The airline currently flies to 14 cities in the Middle East/GCC, serving the region with a total of 194 weekly flights.
