Venezuela and Syria Resume Direct Commercial Flights

On Wednesday, a passenger plane from the Venezuelan state airline CONVIASA landed at Damascus International Airport, thus resuming direct commercial flights between Syria and Venezuela, which had been interrupted for 12 years.

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This first flight arrived with 102 passengers, among whom were the Venezuelan Transport Minister and CONVIASA president Ramon Velasquez and other high officials.

"In compliance with the instructions of President Nicolas Maduro, the airline CONVIASA once again unites the brotherly peoples of Syria and Venezuela," he previously said.

At the reception of the passengers, the Syrian Foreign Affairs Ministry was represented by the Americas Department Director Khalil Bittar, who stated that the flights between Damascus and Caracas would take place once every 15 days.

Moein Nasr, head of the Syrian-Venezuelan Friendship Group in the Syrian Parliament, recalled that the U.S. blockade against his country paralyzed direct air traffic with Venezuela in 2012.

The Caracas-Damascus air route reactivation was a key point in the meetings that Ambassador Jose Biomorgi previously held with high-ranking Syrian authorities.

In February, Minister Velasquez announced to tour operators that CONVIASA expects to increase 30 national and 19 international connections this year.