ALEPPO, April 5. /TASS/. The executive management of the airport in Syria’s Aleppo, which resumed international flights after the armed conflict in the country, hopes to open air link with the Russian capital of Moscow, Mohammad al-Masri, the director of the airport, told journalists.

"We are ready to receive all flights," he said. "Flights between Damascus and Moscow were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, but they have been already resumed. We hope that we will also open Aleppo-Moscow flights."

Following a ten-year break flights were resumed on January 15 en route Aleppo-Beirut-Aleppo and they are held once a week by Syrian private airline company Cham Wings Airlines. Last Wednesday, flights were resumed with the Iraqi city of Erbil and the first aircraft of Iraqi private airline company Fly Bagdad landed at the Aleppo International Airport.

"We feel that we have won," al-Masri continued. "Militants did not want our airport to operate. But with the help of the Syrian army and our friends we have prevented it."

Local resident Yelena Ait, who was born in Moscow, said she was confident it would be possible to visit Russia soon. "My mother is from Moscow, but it is hard [to get there]," according to her.

Passengers at the airport note that the peaceful life in Syria is gradually returning. "There are no more explosion and shooting. It is now about the restoration of the economy. We must work hard to bring up the economy of the country," Abed Shami, who arrived in Aleppo from Dubai via a connection flight in Beirut, told journalists.

Resumption of flights

The Syrian Civil Aviation Authority reported earlier that the Aleppo International Airport was reopened in 2020 after the armed conflict, but flights were suspended due to the global novel coronavirus pandemic. In December 2020, Syrian airports in Latakia and Qamishli also resumed their operations to provide for the return of Syrian refugees.