Syrian Airlines was established in 1946,
with two propeller aircraft and started to
fly between Damascus, Aleppo and Deir
ez-Zour and 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. Theairline 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. The airline’s domestic network
linked Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia,
Kamishly and Palmyra. Syrian Airways
also operated a regional network, with
flights to Beirut, Baghdad, Jerusalem,
Amman; followed by Cairo, Kuwait, Doha
and Jeddah. In May 1948, the war in
Palestine and financial difficulties led to
the withdrawal of PAA and to the
suspension of service until mid-1952. OnDecember 21, 1953, one of the airline’s
Douglas planes crashed near Damascus
killing all nine aboard. The airline’s
operating permit was cancelled following
the crash. The airline was allowed to fly
again in 1954. The D-18s had been
returned to the Syrian Air Force in 1949,
while four additional Dakotas were
acquired between 1952 and 1956.
In 1952, the airline was provided with
three Douglas DC-3s and with four
Douglas DC-4s in 1954, and in 1957 it
received four Douglas DC-6s in the name
of United Arab Airline.
One of the older Dakotas (SR-AAE)
crashed during its climb out of Aleppo’sNejrab Airport on February 24, 1956,
during a heavy storm. The 19 people on
board died in the airline’s worst accident
to date. 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 network was expanded to Dhahran in
the Persian Gulf while frequencies were
reinforced elsewhere
As of September 2018, the Syrian Air
:fleet comprises the following aircraft
Airbus A320-200 ,6Aircrafts in service
Airbus A340-300 ,1aircraft in service
ATR 72-500 , 2 in service
Irkut MC-21 ,15 ordered
