Emirates to reintroduce Damascus flights from July 16

Dubai: Emirates is set to reintroduce flights to Damascus from July 16, 2025, subject to government approvals. Operations were suspended to the Syrian capital in 2012, and the return of services follow a comprehensive evaluation in conjunction with the UAE’s GCAA.

The airline will initially start with three weekly services on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday, with plans to expand to four weekly flights from August 2, with an additional flight on Saturday. Emirates will expand its Damascus services to daily operations, effective October 26.

Emirates’ services to Damascus will operate with a 302-seater Boeing 777-200LR and is planned to depart Dubai as EK 913 at 1200hrs, arriving in Damascus International Airport at 1410hrs local time. The return flight, EK 914 will depart Damascus at 1630hrs, arriving in Dubai at 2030hrs local time.

The flights will open up new opportunities for travellers to conveniently connect to and from the airline’s network of nearly 150 destinations and will support the UAE’s efforts to strengthen bilateral ties and support Syrian aspirations to rebuild and attract foreign investment across key sectors such as energy, construction and agriculture.

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 provide more options and convenience when flying in and out of the Syrian capital.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive, Emirates airline and Group said: “Emirates is pleased to restart operations to Damascus and support Syria’s road ahead by providing better choice and connectivity, essential economic links for inwards investment as well as opening new trade lanes and global market access for the country. Re-establishing air travel and connectivity is also good news for our customers that make up the expansive Syrian diaspora across the Americas, Europe and the GCC, who are eager to fly back home and reconnect to their roots, and leverage their knowledge, skills, expertise and resources in ongoing development efforts.”

“We would like to thank the Syrian authorities for their support in strengthening connectivity between Dubai and Damascus and look forward to boosting links to and from the country through our regularly scheduled operations,” he added.

The UAE and Syria’s trade volumes reached $680 million (Dh2.5 billion) in 2024, a 23 percent increase over the previous year, according to the UAE Ministry of Economy, and the new flights will further stimulate vital trade ties. More than 350,000 Syrians live in the UAE, data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows.

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 13 cities in the Middle East/GCC, serving the region with a total of 191 weekly flights.