DAMASCUS, March 15, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The airport in Syria's second city 
Aleppo is set to reopen next week, the state news agency reported Saturday, 
after it was shut during the offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad.

"The Syrian Civil Aviation Authority announced the resumption of operations 
at Aleppo International Airport starting Tuesday, March 18," the official 
news agency SANA reported.

"The airport is ready to receive flights, after the completion of all 
technical and administrative preparations," the authority told SANA.

The reopening of the airport in the northern city will see the arrival of 
domestic and international flights, the authority said, adding that it 
welcomes all airlines wishing to operate flights to the facility.

The authority's head of communications, Mustafa Kaj, told AFP the airport had 
been closed "due to the fighting that erupted during the liberation of the 
airport".

He added that it was later vandalised, noting that rehabilitation took time 
"particularly as the damage affected some of the infrastructure, such as 
control tower communications, runway lighting, and security screening 
equipment".

Kaj added that both domestic and international flights would land at the 
airport during the reopening, but did not specify which international airline 
would make the first landing.

International flights resumed in January at Syria's main airport in Damascus 
for the first time since Islamist-led rebels toppled Assad the previous 
month.