Syrian Arab Airlines
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Syrian Arab Airlines (alternative name Syrianair) is the national flag-carrier airline of Syria, based in Damascus. It operates scheduled international services to over 30 destinations in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North Africa, as well as domestic services. Its main base is Damascus International Airport.
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Code Data
- IATA Code: RB
- ICAO Code: SYR
- Callsign: Syrianair
History
The airline was established by the Government of Syria in October 1961 to succeed Syrian Airways which had been established in June 1954. The new Syrian Arab Airlines took over the routes previously controlled by Syrian Airways and United Arab Airlines. The latter had been a short-lived airline formed by the merger of Syrian Airways and Misrair in January 1961 during the union of Syria and Egypt.
The airline began operation with three Douglas DC-6, two Douglas DC-4 and three Douglas DC-3, and serving both domestic and international routes to the east. In summer 1963, Syrianair begin its expension to the west, starting with Rome and Munich, then London and Paris. Sud Aviation Caravelle 10B3 joined the fleet in October 1965. In 1976, the airline acquired a Boeing 727-200 and 747SP.
In the 1970s, because of the closer political condition between Syria and the Soviet Union, Syrianair acquired some Soviet aircraft. This included an Antonov An-26, Ilyushin Il-76 and Yakovlev Yak-40 in the 1970s and Tupolev Tu-134B-3 and Tupolev Tu-154M in the 1980s. A joint service with Royal Jordanian to New York was opened in July 1978.
Since the United States imposed sanctions on Syria, the fleet update of Syrianair was interrupted, and the fleet was suffering from aging until October of 1998, when Airbus A320-200 arrived.
The airline is wholly owned by the Syrian government and employs 5,325 staff.
Services
Syrianair operates the following services (at January 2005):
- International scheduled destinations: Abu Dhabi, Algiers, Amsterdam, Athens, Bahrain, Barcelona, Beirut, Benghazi, Berlin, Brussels, Bucharest, Cairo, Casablanca, Copenhagen, Dammam, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Jeddah, Karachi, Khartoum, Kuwait, Larnaca, London, Madrid, Manchester, Marseilles, Milan, Moscow, Mumbai, Munich, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, Sanaa, Sharjah, Stockholm, Tehran, Tripoli, Tunis, Vienna and Yerevan.
Fleet
The Syrianair fleet consists of the following aircraft (at January 2005):
- 6 Airbus A320-200
- 2 Antonov An-24B
- 6 Antonov An-26
- 6 Boeing 727-200
- 2 Boeing 747SP
- 3 Ilyushin Il-76M
- 1 Ilyushin Il-76T
- 1 Tupolev Tu-134B
- 5 Yakovlev Yak-40
- 1 Yakovlev Yak-40K
External Links
- Syrianair Official Website (http://www.syriaair.com/)
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