Damascus – Air traffic in areas controlled by the Syrian regime has been witnessing turmoil and confusion since October 12 after Damascus and Aleppo international airports were repeatedly out of service as a result of repeated Israeli aerial bombardments.
Hundreds of Syrian travelers are struggling to find alternative plans to visit or return to their countries of residence, in addition to the disruption of the interests of dozens of them due to the cancellation or postponement of their flights after they were transferred to Latakia airport.
The Ministry of Transport in the government of the regime announced on October 22 / October the transfer of all flights (arrival and departure) to Latakia airport following simultaneous raids by the Israeli occupation army aircraft on Damascus and Aleppo international airports, which led to their outage again.
The ministry said on its Facebook page that the "blatant Israeli aggression" led to the disruption of passengers' flights, affairs, work and needs, and called on travelers to "arrange their affairs" with airlines.
At the same time, the Syrian Aviation Corporation announced the cancellation of Cairo and Kuwait flights, and the transfer of Emirates flights (Dubai / Sharjah / Abu Dhabi) and Doha (arrival and departure) to Latakia International Airport.
Cham Wings Airlines transferred a number of flights from the UAE, Iraq, Russia and Kuwait to Latakia airport hours after the bombing of the two airports.
Damascus International Airport damaged as a result of a previous Israeli bombing of the airport in 2022 (Reuters)
Disruption and financial burdens
A number of Syrian travelers were forced to take exceptional measures to join their work and return to their countries of residence, at a time when some of them missed their return dates, which led to the disruption of their work and interests in those countries after Syrian airlines changed flight schedules and canceled a number of them.
Fadel, 37, a Syrian engineer based in Egypt who was visiting his family in Damascus, said, "My reservation was on the Damascus-Cairo flight last Thursday, but the flight was canceled, then it was postponed for a few days, and Syrian Airlines did not specify whether the flight was next Sunday or Monday."
He adds to Al Jazeera Net, "I was on a date for a job interview in one of the construction companies in Cairo on October 28 / October, and now I do not know if the job is still vacant after my apology for the date and my request to postpone it."
Mona, a 25-year-old receptionist at a hotel in Baghdad, was forced to book a flight to Baghdad from Beirut Airport (Rafic Hariri International Airport), after the recent departure of Damascus International Airport and the postponement of the Damascus-Baghdad flight.
Mona says to Al Jazeera Net, "I traveled to Beirut in a hurry, and was forced to pay the car fare that took me, in addition to the royalties paid at the military and security checkpoints on our way, and all in order to maintain my job in the hotel, there are dozens of workers ready to replace me if I am late to return, which means that I will become unemployed."
In addition to the ticket to Baghdad, Mona spent about $100 to reach Beirut, including $40 in royalties paid by drivers to checkpoints in regime-controlled areas.
Since July 2020, Syrian travelers returning to Syria from land, sea and air ports have been forced to convert $100 into its equivalent in Syrian pounds at the Central Bank rate, as a measure imposed by the regime government on Syrians under the pretext of "securing a small part of the country's foreign currency needs."
Alternative solutions
For years, Syrian travelers residing in European countries have relied mainly on Beirut airport to leave and return to Syria, as they do not operate flights from their countries of residence to Syrian airports.
As a result of the recent military escalation on Lebanon's southern border between Hezbollah and the Israeli occupation, the Lebanese authorities issued a circular on Saturday containing instructions and instructions to evacuate Beirut International Airport and surrounding facilities.
Prior to this circular, Syrian travelers feared a repeat of the scenario of the 2006 war when the occupation forces targeted the runway of Beirut International Airport, prompting returnees to Syria from European countries to search for other destinations.
Dozens of Syrian travelers from Europe went to Queen Alia International Airport in the Jordanian capital Amman instead of Beirut International Airport after some European airlines canceled flights to Beirut.
Aleppo International Airport is the second largest in Syria (Reuters)
Sondos, 38, who works in a clothing store in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, had planned to visit her elderly mother after her health deteriorated over the past few months.
Sondos says to Al Jazeera Net, "This is my first visit to the country after 7 years of asylum in the Netherlands and obtaining citizenship recently, and succeeded with difficulty in obtaining leave from work for 3 weeks, and booked a round trip ticket from Beirut Airport through the Dutch company Transvia, but they later informed me to cancel the flight, forcing me to transfer the flight reservation from Beirut to Amman."
Unlike Syrians who do not have the nationality of other countries, Sundus did not have to apply for permission to enter Jordan from the Jordanian Ministry of Interior, and will not later have to apply for security approval from the concerned authorities of the Syrian regime before leaving, as is the case with most Syrians traveling to Jordan.
"I paid 40 dinars ($56) entry fees to Jordan, had to spend $100 at the Jordanian-Syrian border, and agreed with the owner of the taxi that took me from Amman to Damascus and will take me back to Jordan, $100. The trip will cost me about $500 in terms of transportation."
Among the conditions set by Jordan to receive Syrians residing in European countries who have a foreign travel document (who do not have the nationality of those countries) last July was to apply for admission to Jordan through the Ministry of Interior's e-services website, and the application takes 7 to 10 days to process, according to the ministry's website.
Syrian travelers from regime-controlled areas to Jordan need to obtain security approval issued by the security and military branches, which takes 10 to 15 days to issue, which compounded their suffering after the disruption of the two airports.
Israeli planes carried out air strikes simultaneously, targeting Damascus and Aleppo international airports on October 12 and 22, while Aleppo airport was subjected to isolated raids on 15 and 25 of this month, which led to its decommissioning for the fourth time in two weeks.