Syrian Airlines history

The airline started its operations in June 1947 using two Beech D-18s and three Douglas DC-3 (C-47 Dakotas). The Dakotas had been acquired from Pan American World Airways (PAA), which provided technical assistance to Syrian Airways during the first years of operation.

On December 21, 1953, one of the airline's Douglas planes crashed near Damascus killing all nine aboard.

The airline was allowed to fly again in 1954.

One of the older Dakotas (YK-AAE) crashed during its climb out of Aleppo's Nejrab Airport on February 24, 1956, during a heavy storm.

Newer and stronger planes were consequently added to the fleet in the mid-fifties: two Douglas DC-4/C-54 Skymasters, followed by a Douglas DC-4-1009 acquired from Swissair in December 1958, complementing an active fleet of four Douglas C47 Dakotas.

The union between Egypt and Syria ended on September 26, 1961, amidst tensions between the leaderships of the two provinces of the UAR. The Syrian Arab Republic was declared in Syria, while Egypt chose to continue to carry the title of UAR for a few more years.

S.A.A.L. purchased a third DC-6B from SAS in November 1962.

Syrian Arab Airlines became a founding member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) and entered the jet age in 1965, with the purchase of two Sud Aviation 210 Super-Caravelle 10B3s.

In 1966, a pool partnership with Middle East Airlines – Air Liban was signed and a twice daily rotation between Beirut and Damascus was launched.

In 1967, S.A.A.L. joined IATA by which it was granted the serial number 70.

A new airport, the Damascus International Airport, was built 25 km south-east of the capital and was opened to traffic in 1973 to become S.A.A.L's modern hub, replacing the old Mezze structure inherited from the French mandate.

More flights to North Africa were added in 1974 with the introduction of Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers and Casablanca.

The “SyrianAir” acronym was officially adopted on 11/Nov/1975.

SyrianAir started its Boeing 747SP operations on June 1, 1976, using the jumbo jet on the Damascus-Munich-London sector.

The joint flight agreement never really materialized, and Alia launched independently its own Amman-New York flights in 1977.

A branch in Aleppo was opened in 1958 in Baron Street, and an office in Hama in 1989, Der Alzour in 1987, Daraa in 1992, and Homs in 2001.Syrian Airlines opened a new office in Tartous in 2002, in addition to the old one that was opened in 1986. It was built in 1979 and enforced with some specialist workers.

In 1980, SyrianAir sold two of its ageing Caravelles as plans were made for the acquisition of newer aircraft.

Some of the stations were closed because they no longer had any economical feasibility, like Prague, Budapest, Sofia, and Muscat.Syrian Airlines was a pioneer in owning modern computer systems, as it moved in 1981 from manual reservation to Gabriel fully automated reservation system.

The Tupolev Tu-134s were introduced in 1983.

The same difficult summer of 1985, flights to Beirut were restarted using the Super Caravelles.

Then, in 1986 there was Sahara system for hotel reservation, and Timatec system for travelling information.

The number of passengers carried by SyrianAir declined to 353,355 in 1988, the lowest since the mid-seventies, forcing the airline towards more reform.

The workforce was increased to 3,615 in 1990, and the number of passengers increased to 655,644, a record despite the war in Kuwait, and the airline was able to finish the year without losses.

Flights to London were resumed in 1991, and passenger numbers continued to increase to 700,819.

The long-standing United States sanctions were eased in 1993, allowing the acquisition of modern Western equipment.

In 1994, Kuwait donated to Syria three Boeing 727-269s which enabled SyrianAir to finally phase out the two Caravelles in December of the following year.

In 1995, a record 71 million dollars in operating profit was reported by the airline.

In 1997, the airline took drastic measures in reducing its workforce to 2,331, as operating profits had declined to USD44 million during the previous year.

In October 1998, SyrianAir received its first Airbus A320-232, YK-AKA and a new livery was unveiled for the occasion.

In 2000, SyrianAir operated a fleet of 14 aircraft: six Airbus A320s, six Boeing 727s and two Boeing 747SPs, while it continued to use the Syrian Air Force Yakovlev Yak-40s for the domestic routes to Kamishly and Deirezzor.

In 2003, the airline registered a 9 million dollar net profit thanks to its more economical fleet and carried 907,850 passengers.

New markets were sought with the addition of Milan, Barcelona, Manchester, Copenhagen and Benghazi in 2004.

In 2005, Kamishli Airport followed the same policy of open sky.Syrian Airlines has connected the Syrian cities with regular daily internal flights.

By 2012, Syrian Air had retired all its old Boeing 747, 727 and Tupolev aircraft, leaving SyrianAir with just 8 aircraft in its fleet - 2 ATRs and 6 Airbus A320s.

On 09/Jan/2020, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad issued a legislative decree to change the name from Syrian Arab Airlines to Syrian Airlines.