Can You Fly to Syria? Airlines to Damascus and Aleppo

Yes. As of 17 September 2026 you can buy a ticket into Damascus International (DAM) or Aleppo (ALP) on some days. You cannot treat that ticket as a sure thing: airports have closed during fighting (UK FCDO), and some airline desks still will not board you for a visa-on-arrival.

Whether you should go at all: Can tourists go to Syria right now?. Whether the stamp works: Syria visa on arrival 2026.

Are there flights to Syria?

Damascus and Aleppo: some international flights. Every other Syrian airport: closed (UK FCDO, retrieved 17 September 2026).

Syria's civil aviation chief, Omar al-Hosari, told Anadolu on 1 May 2026 that twelve airlines were operating to those two airports. That list is a snapshot, not a timetable. Open the carrier's own booking engine for your date.

Canada's page, same week, also says Damascus is operational and Aleppo has resumed limited commercial flights, and that airspace can close without notice.

Is Damascus airport open?

Yes, with a catch. UK FCDO air section, retrieved 17 September 2026: Damascus airport and Aleppo airport are currently operating with some international flights. Other Syrian airports remain closed. Fighting has, at various times, led to the temporary suspension of commercial flights and the closure of airports.

Canada, same retrieval week: Damascus airport is operational; Aleppo has resumed limited commercial operations; airspace may close without notice.

That is not a guarantee for your morning. Confirm the operating carrier the day you fly.

Do not treat a Kayak result as proof the runway is open this morning. Do not invent a wifi password from a blog: the operator page names DAM_AIRPORT, and the SSID can change.

Which airlines go to Syria?

Named by the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority as of 1 May 2026 (Anadolu):

A blank cell means the 1 May list did not name that airport for that carrier — not that a flight cannot exist later. Emirates is a No, not a blank: SCAA did not name them for either airport on that date.

European majors (British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM as themselves) are not on that list. If you start in London, Berlin, or Paris, you connect. How, from which hub, is the next table.

Fly to Damascus from Dubai, Istanbul, Doha, and Europe

A first night in Damascus still has to be booked somewhere Booking.com will not sell you: How to book hotels in Syria.

Does Emirates fly to Syria?

No — not as a current operator on the lists we can pin today. Same answer for “does Emirates fly to Damascus.”

Search emirates.com for your date. If a ticket appears, read the operating carrier. The UAE seat the civil aviation authority named in May 2026 is flydubai, not Emirates metal.

How much do flights to Syria cost?

We are not printing a fake USD fare. Prices move with date, hub, cabin, and whether the desk will actually board you.

Search the operating carrier’s engine for your dates. Aggregators will show Damascus even when the airport is closed for a day.

The only starting fare we will quote is one a carrier published and we opened: flydubai’s newsroom, 21 May 2025, said return Economy Class Lite fares from DXB to DAM start from AED 2,000 and Business from AED 10,000. That was the launch price for the 1 June 2025 restart. It is not today’s price.

If the fare is unrefundable and the carrier will not confirm visa-on-arrival boarding in writing, do not buy it. Fly to Beirut or Amman and cross by land: Lebanon–Syria at Masnaa.

The EASA bulletin does not mean the airport is closed

EASA Conflict Zone Information Bulletin CZIB-2017-03R19 (revised 12 May 2026, valid until 31 October 2026 unless reviewed) tells air operators subject to EU rules: do not operate in the airspace of Syria at any altitude (FIR Damascus / OSTT). Read the bulletin.

That is a recommendation to operators, not a lock on the terminal. It is why a lot of EU-certificated majors stay out, and why the seats you can actually buy are often Turkish, Qatari, Jordanian, Gulf, or Syrian. It is also why a flight can disappear after a strike. The FCDO records that fighting has suspended flights before.

Do not read "EASA says don't fly there" as "there are no tickets." Do not read "there are tickets" as "the airspace is routine."

Turkish Airlines Damascus and Qatar Airways Damascus

Turkish Airlines — Official destination page for Syria names Damascus International and Aleppo. That is the page to search for IST–DAM and IST–ALP. Duration on that page: about two hours ten minutes. Confirm visa-on-arrival boarding in writing; travellers get through on TK more often than on some Gulf desks.

Qatar Airways — Daily DOH–DAM was the 1 May 2026 product in their April press release. Equipment changes do not matter as much as whether that Doha–Damascus flight still sells for your date. Open qatarairways.com.

Royal Jordanian — Useful twice: as a DAM/ALP seat (SCAA) and as the airline that puts you in Amman for the Nassib land crossing if check-in says no.

Flights to Syria from Dubai (and the boarding catch)

SCAA named flydubai among Damascus carriers. The newsroom still holds the 1 June 2025 daily relaunch (FZ 115 / FZ 116 from Terminal 2). Dubai is also a typical connection onto other airlines. The catch is not the route — it is check-in. Some Gulf and regional systems still read "visa required" even when Syrian immigration will stamp you. Send the operating carrier this before you pay a fare you cannot refund:

I hold a [nationality] passport. Will you board me to Damascus / Aleppo for a visa on arrival, with no visa number already in the passport?

If they will not say yes, do not buy that ticket. Fly to Beirut (BEY) or Amman (AMM) — those airports are ordinary international — then cross at Masnaa or Nassib. Stamp mechanics: visa on arrival.

If online check-in asks for a visa number and the carrier has already confirmed VOA, check in at the airport.

If the flight disappears

UK FCDO: DAM and ALP operate some international flights; other Syrian airports stay closed; operations have stopped during fighting. Canada's page: schedules and borders can change without notice. Smartraveller: a limited number of commercial airlines fly; if you can get a flight out and the road to the airport is usable, take it.

Buy a ticket you can change. Keep a land-out plan (Beirut or Amman) that does not depend on the same carrier.

Mistakes that waste a fare

• Treating a search result on Kayak as a Syrian airport that is open. Only DAM and ALP are in the FCDO line, and even those have closed during fighting.
• Treating an Emirates destination page as a ticket. Search the engine; read the operating carrier.
• Treating flydubai’s May 2025 launch fares as today’s price.
• Buying flydubai (or any Gulf ticket) without the boarding email.
• Assuming EASA's "do not operate" means you cannot land on Turkish Airlines tomorrow. Different operators, different risk appetite.
• Assuming a 21 September Syrian Airlines Europe launch is already ticketable. Al-Monitor reported the date; the booking engine is the proof.
• Paying for DAM when Beirut plus Masnaa is the path that actually matches your passport.

How this page was put together

Meet Locale editorial, 17 September 2026. Airport status: UK FCDO air section and Canada. Operator and wifi SSID: damairport.gov.sy. Carrier names: Syrian Civil Aviation Authority via Anadolu, 1 May 2026. Emirates: media centre 2 June 2025 plus the DXB–DAM destination page opened 17 September 2026 (schedule widget failed). Airspace: EASA CZIB-2017-03R19. Daily Doha: Qatar Airways press, 23 April 2026. Istanbul: Turkish Airlines' own Syria page. Dubai daily relaunch and launch fares: flydubai newsroom, 21 May 2025 (FZ 115 / FZ 116; AED 2,000 Economy Lite / AED 10,000 Business return). Vienna/Copenhagen date: Al-Monitor, 25 August 2026. Boarding refusals are counter practice from 2026 arrivals.

Ask which carrier boarded you, and whether they wanted a visa number, in the transport topic or the Syria feed. Meet Locale is a community for travellers and residents, not a dating app.