Damascus International Airport guide

Damascus International Airport (DAM) sits 30 km southeast of central Damascus, reached via the M5 motorway in roughly 25-45 minutes depending on traffic and checkpoints. Syria's General Authority of Civil Aviation operates the field, which opened in 1973 and serves as the country's primary international gateway.

The airport closed briefly in December 2024 during the fall of the Assad government. Domestic flights resumed on 18 December 2024 and international service returned on 7 January 2025 with a Qatar Airways arrival from Doha. Spillover from the Israel-Iran conflict forced further closures in 2026: Syria shut Damascus airport and its airspace on 1 March after missile debris injured people near the capital, then reopened it on 8 April under a US-Iran ceasefire. When that ceasefire collapsed and Iran struck Israel on 7 June, Syria again suspended Damascus airport operations, reopening it on 8 June once the immediate security situation eased. Since then it has run a reduced schedule of around a dozen carriers to the Gulf, Turkey and Europe, including a July 2026 restart of nonstop Amsterdam service after a 14-year gap; the EU aviation safety agency continues to advise against flying in Damascus airspace through 31 October 2026 and schedules can still shift at short notice.

In August 2025 Syria signed a $4 billion redevelopment agreement with Qatar's UCC Holding to build a third terminal and lift annual capacity toward 31 million passengers over the coming decade. Turkey separately upgraded the airport's radar system in January 2026.