Syrian Air
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| Founded | 1946 | |||
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| Hubs | ||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Syrian Air Frequent Flyer | |||
| Fleet size | 11 | |||
| Destinations | 49 | |||
| Headquarters | Damascus, Syria | |||
| Key people | Mrs. Ghaida Abdullatif, Vice Chairman - Director General & CEO | |||
| Website | www.syriaair.com | |||
Syrian Air (Arabic: السورية), previously known as Syrian Arab Airlines (Arabic: مؤسسة الطيران العربية السورية), is the flag carrier airline of Syria, based in Damascus. It operates scheduled international services to over 40 destinations in Asia, Europe and North Africa, as well as domestic services. Its main base is Damascus International Airport.
Syrian Air is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization.
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[edit] History
[edit] 1946–1961
Syrian Airlines was established in autumn 1946, with two propellers and started to fly between Damascus, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zour and Al-Qamishli. Operations began in 1947. Financial difficulties caused the suspension of services in 1948, but after receiving Government support operations were resumed in 1951. The airline expanded during the next years to include Beirut, Baghdad, and Jerusalem, then Cairo and Kuwait then Doha, in addition to flights during the hajj.
In 1952 the airline was provided with three Douglas DC-3s and with four DC-4 in 1954, while in 1957 it received four Douglas DC-6s in the name of United Arab Airline.
[edit] 1961 – present
The airline was established by the Government of Syria in October 1961 to succeed Syrian Airways which had been established in 1946.[1] The new Syrian Arab Airlines took over the routes previously controlled by Syrian Airways and United Arab Airlines. The latter had been a short-lived airline formed by the merger of Syrian Airways and Misrair in January 1961 during the union of Syria and Egypt.
Syrian Arab Airlines began operation with three Douglas DC-6, two Douglas DC-4 and three Douglas DC-3s, serving both domestic and international routes to the east. In summer 1963, Syrianair begin its expansion to the west, starting with Rome and Munich, then London and Paris. Sud Aviation Caravelle 10B3 joined the fleet in October 1965. In 1976, the airline acquired a Boeing 727-2Adv and Boeing 747SP.
In the 1970s, because of the closer political ties between Syria and the Soviet Union, Syrianair acquired Soviet aircraft. This included an Antonov An-26, Ilyushin Il-76 and Yakovlev Yak-40 in the 1970s and Tupolev Tu-134B-3 and Tupolev Tu-154M in the 1980s.
A joint service with Royal Jordanian to New York was opened in July 1978.
When the United States imposed sanctions on Syria, updates to Syrianair were interrupted until October 1998, when Airbus A320-200 were bought.
As of August 2006, Syrianair was in negotiations to purchase three Ilyushin Il-96-400 long-range aircraft and four Tupolev Tu-204 medium-range aircraft.[2]
As of October 2008, the airline retained the use of one of its two old Boeing 747SPs for flights to Dubai, but this model is now thought to have joined its sister in the Damascus airport storage area.
The airline is wholly owned by the Syrian government and employs 5,325 staff.
Sami Khiyami, currently Syrian Ambassador in London is a former senior figure within the Airline.
[edit] Destinations
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Syrian Air has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:
Cyprus Airways
Malév Hungarian Airlines
Royal Jordanian
Saudi Arabian Airlines
TAROM
Turkish Airlines
Yemenia
[edit] Fleet
As of April 2010, the Syrian Air fleet consists of the following aircraft[3]:
- 7 Airbus A320-200
- 2 ATR 72-500
- 1 Boeing 737-300 (leased)
- 2 Boeing 747SP (stored)
- 1 Boeing 767-200ER (leased)
- 1 Yak-40
- 1 Tu-134
- 1 Falcon 900
- 1 Falcon 20
- 1 Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin
One aircraft is operated by Jordan Aviation and, during peak times like the Hadj season, additional aircraft are leased. 3 Syrian Air A320 aircraft are grounded until maintenance checks can be carried out, which are not possible under current economic sanctions. As a result, the airline is considering leasing several Tu-204 aircraft to continue operations until the A320s can be returned to service. The Yak-40K and Tu-134B aircraft are operated on domestic routes to Lattakia and Kameshli.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Syrian Air |
- Syrian Air
- Syrian Air (Arabic)
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