The first international flight since the ouster of al-Assad in Syria

The first international commercial flight landed at Damascus airport after the fall of the regime of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A Qatar Airways flight landed at Damascus International Airport on Tuesday when it was greeted by relatives and friends of the passengers inside the terminal building. Ashad al-Saleibi, head of Syria's Air Transport Authority, said Qatar had helped restore the airport, which had suffered years of neglect and damage from periodic Israeli airstrikes. He said that the [al-Assad] regime has done a lot of damage to this lively area and this lively airport and the Aleppo airport as well. Many of the passengers were Syrian nationals returning for the first time in more than a decade. Osama Muslimah, who came from America, said that this is his first visit since the civil war started in 2011. Qatar Airways announced on Thursday that it will resume flights to the Syrian capital Damascus after nearly 13 years, starting with three weekly flights starting Tuesday. Qatar Airways is working with the relevant authorities to ensure that all necessary safety, security and operational standards are met before resuming operations, the airline said. A Qatari official told AFP last month that Doha had offered to help the new Syrian authorities resume operations at Damascus airport. After Turkey, Qatar was the second country to reopen its embassy in the Syrian capital after the ousting of the Assad regime on December 8.