International flights resume at Damascus Airport with first departure to Sharjah

Damascus: International flights resumed at Syria's main airport in Damascus on Tuesday for the first time since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al-Assad last month, AFP journalists said.

A Syrian Airlines flight bound for Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, took off at around 11:45 am (0845 GMT), marking the first international commercial flight from the airport since December 8, AFP correspondents said.

"Today marks a new beginning," Damascus airport director Anis Fallouh told AFP.

"We started welcoming outbound and inbound international flights," he said, adding that the first flight was bound for Sharjah.

International aid planes and foreign diplomatic delegations have already been landing in Syria, and domestic flights have also resumed.

On December 18, the first flight since Islamist-led rebels ousted Assad 10 days earlier took off from Damascus airport bound for Aleppo in the country's north, according to AFP journalists.

On Thursday, Qatar Airways announced it would resume flights to the Syrian capital after nearly 13 years, starting with three weekly flights from Tuesday.

A Qatari official told AFP last month that Doha had offered the new Syrian authorities help in resuming operations at Damascus airport.