For over a decade, Syrian airspace was a no-fly zone that airlines wouldn't touch. Now it's one of the busiest corridors in the Middle East.
The timing couldn't be better for Damascus. Syria's new government introduced a flat overflight fee of $499 per flight earlier this year © Flight Radar
For over a decade, Syrian airspace was a no-fly zone that airlines wouldn't touch. Now it's one of the busiest corridors in the Middle East.
Nearly 12,000 aircraft crossed Syrian skies in May alone, more than double February's figure and a staggering 375% above the same month last year.
The reason: the Iran war that erupted on February 28 shut down Iraqi and Gulf airspace, forcing airlines to find alternatives fast. Syria, newly opened after Bashar al-Assad's ousting in late 2024, was suddenly the only viable route.
The timing couldn't be better for Damascus. Syria's new government introduced a flat overflight fee of $499 per flight earlier this year. At May's traffic levels, that translates to nearly $6 million in a single month — serious revenue for a country rebuilding from scratch after 14 years of civil war.
And the traffic keeps coming. With Gulf airspace still disrupted and airlines locked into new routings, Syria's skies are no longer an emergency detour. They're becoming a permanent fixture on the regional aviation map.
From pariah state to regional air hub, in under six months. The transformation is as unlikely as it is lucrative.
Lebanon and Syria will in the coming months begin revising decades-old trade agreements to revive their economic relationship following the ouster of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in 2024, Lebanon's economy minister told Reuters on Thursday.
Syrian authorities said on Thursday they had foiled an attempt to smuggle advanced weapons and missiles across the border from Iraq, with state news agency SANA citing an Interior Ministry source as saying the shipment appeared destined for militant group Hezbollah.
The U.S. struck Iran's coastal defenses and missile sites on Wednesday after reimposing a naval blockade of its ports, while Iran threatened to shut off more regional energy exports, saying it was engaged in an "existential war" with America.
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