Syrian Air
Syrian Air is the flag carrier of Syria. It primarily operates in the Middle East, though the airline had operated scheduled international services to several destinations in Asia, Europe and Africa prior to the Arab Spring and the Syrian civil war, previously serving over 50 destinations worldwide. Its main bases are Damascus International Airport, alongside formerly Aleppo International Airport. The company has its head office in the Social Insurance Building in Damascus.
History
Early years: Syrian Airways (1946–1958)
Syrian Airways was established in 1946, with two propeller aircraft and started to fly between a domestic networks such as Damascus, Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Palmyra and Qamishli. The airline started its operations in June 1947 using two Beechcraft Model 18s and three Douglas DC-3. The Dakotas had been acquired from Pan American World Airways, which provided technical assistance to Syrian Airways during the first years of operation.Syrian Airways also operated a regional network, with flights to Beirut, Baghdad, Jerusalem, Amman; followed by Cairo, Kuwait, Doha and Jeddah. The airline expanded during the next years to include Beirut, Baghdad, and Jerusalem, then Cairo, Kuwait and Doha, in addition to flights during the hajj.
Financial difficulties and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War led to the withdrawal of PAA and caused the suspension of service until mid-1951. The operation was resumed after receiving government support in 1952. In 1952, the airline was provided with three Douglas DC-3s and with four Douglas DC-4s in 1954, and in 1957 it received four Douglas DC-6s in the name of United Arab Airline.
On December 21, 1953, one of the airline's Douglas planes crashed near Damascus killing all nine aboard. The airline's operating permit was cancelled following the crash. The airline was allowed to fly again in 1954. The Model 18s had been returned to the Syrian Air Force in 1949, while four additional Dakotas were acquired between 1952 and 1956.
One of the older Dakotas crashed during its climb out of Aleppo's Nayrab Airport on February 24, 1956, during a heavy storm. The 19 people on board died in the airline's worst accident to date. Newer and stronger planes were consequently added to the fleet in the mid-fifties: two Douglas DC-4/C-54 Skymaster, followed by a Douglas DC-4-1009 acquired from Swissair in December 1958, complementing an active fleet of four Douglas C47 Dakotas. The network was expanded to Dhahran in the Persian Gulf while frequencies were reinforced elsewhere.
Merger with Misrair: United Arab Airlines (1958–1961)
In February 1958, Syria and Egypt decided to unite under the leadership of president Gamal Abdel Nasser, and the two countries became provinces of the United Arab Republic. The merger between Syrian Airways and Misrair, the state-owned airlines of Syria and Egypt came as a consequence of this political union. The airlines merged on December 25, 1958, to form United Arab Airlines. At the time of the merger, Syrian Airways was still only a small regional airline while its Egyptian counterpart, Misrair, was the largest and oldest airline in the Arab world, operating an extensive network out of Cairo, the region's metropolis.During the UAA interlude, only regional and domestic routes were operated in Syria, flights further afield connected at the Cairo hub. Two planes inherited from Syrian Airways were written off between 1959 and 1961: the Douglas DC-4-1009 which was ditched in the Congo River as it was carrying cargo from Accra to Leopoldville on September 1, 1960, and a Dakota which crashed on its final approach of Qamishli on a domestic flight from Aleppo on May 6, 1961. Fortunately, there were no fatalities in either accident.
The union between Egypt and Syria ended on September 26, 1961, amidst tensions between the leaderships of the two provinces of the UAR. The Syrian Arab Republic was declared in Syria, while Egypt chose to continue to carry the title of UAR until 1971. In parallel to that divorce, Syria withdrew from UAA. All the airliners previously owned by Syrian Airways, two Douglas DC-6Bs and one Douglas DC6B freighter were given up by UAA to the Syrian authorities.
Syrian Arab Airlines (1961–1969)
Syrian Arab Airlines was founded in October 1961 to take over UAA's operations in Syria and to become the new national airline. The fleet initially consisted of three Douglas C-47 Dakotas, two Douglas C-54 Skymasters, two Douglas DC-6Bs and one Douglas DC-6B freighter. Domestic and regional flights were promptly resumed and the fleet originally was painted in a green livery reminiscent of that of the Syrian Airways colors.SAAL purchased a third DC-6B from SAS in November 1962. Flights to European destinations were started in 1963, followed by flights to London and Paris, Karachi and Delhi in 1964. A new livery was introduced then, with alternating dark blue and red stripes for the cheatline.
Syrian Arab Airlines became a founding member of the Arab Air Carriers' Organization and entered the jet age in 1965, with the purchase of two Sud Aviation 210 Super-Caravelle 10B3s. These jets enabled the airline to expand and reinforce its network with the addition of flights to Luxembourg, Prague, Athens, Istanbul, Teheran and Bahrain. A slightly altered livery was introduced for the occasion, removing the parallel stripes from the fin and removing the red stripes from the cheatline. In 1966, a pool partnership with Middle East Airlines – Air Liban was signed and a twice-daily rotation between Beirut and Damascus was launched. The summer 1966 timetable below clearly reflects the airline's growth and modernization.
In 1966, Syrian Arab Airlines used the Caravelles on flights to Europe as well as high-density Middle Eastern routes and on flights to South Asia.
Luxembourg was a rare destination for carriers in the Middle East in the 1960s; in addition to cargo, SAAL flights could be linked to Loftleidir's budget flights to North America.
In 1967, SAAL joined IATA by which it was granted the serial number 70. The Dakotas and Skymasters were gradually withdrawn from the fleet, while the DC6-Bs were used for domestic and a few short-haul regional flights.
The Six-Day War disrupted S.A.A.L's operations for several weeks in 1967 and the airline had to suspend its flights to Jerusalem. Beyond these immediate consequences on the airline, Syria's military defeat in 1967 left the whole country in a state of shock and had a decisive impact on the evolution of its political system for years to come. Nevertheless, S.A.A.L's operations were gradually restored and a normal level of operation was recovered by 1968 as shown in the timetable below. The fleet consisted then of two Super Caravelles and three DC-6Bs.
Syrian Airlines (1970–1980)
With the beginning of the seventies, S.A.A.L continued its steady development by introducing flights to Moscow in 1970 and purchasing another two Super Caravelles from Sterling Airways in June 1971.Frequencies were increased, and flights to Jeddah were resumed the same year while new flights were launched to Abu Dhabi, Benghazi and Budapest. Flights were disrupted for several weeks during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
A new airport, the Damascus International Airport, was built 25 km south-east of the capital and was opened to traffic in 1973 to become S.A.A.L's modern hub, replacing the old Mezze structure inherited from the French mandate.
A climate of confidence, pragmatism and political stability was nevertheless in sight in Syria after decades of volatile politics and coups d'état. Ambitious development programs were launched throughout the country.
Syrian Arab Airlines was among the government's priorities as a new modernization and expansion program was launched. A new SAAL livery was introduced in 1973, featuring the airline's new logo, a mythical bird rising over a Mediterranean-blue disk.
Closer economic and political ties with the Warsaw Pact countries led to the progressive buildup of a comprehensive network in Eastern Europe, with the addition of Bucharest–Otopeni, Prague–Ruzyně and Berlin–Schoenefeld. More flights to North Africa were added in 1974 with the introduction of Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers and Casablanca. Sanaa was also added to the network in 1974.
In parallel to that, SAAL was managing an increasing number of Soviet-built aircraft for the Syrian government and the Syrian Air Force. That fleet was gradually expanded to include two Antonov An-24s, six Antonov An-26s, six Yakovlev Yak-40s and four Ilyushin Il-76 freighters, in addition to two French-built Dassault Mystere Falcon 20Fs and one Dassault Falcon 900.
These aircraft were not used by the airline for scheduled services except for some of the Yak-40s which replaced the Douglas DC-6B and the Caravelles on domestic routes by the early eighties. In 1974, two Boeing 707s were leased in from British Airtours to complement the Caravelle fleet. That year, the airline carried 279,866 passengers.
File:Boeing 707-321, Syrian Arab Airlines AN0692215.jpg|thumb|Boeing 707-300 leased from British Airtours at Paris-Bourget
A fleet renewal program was launched in 1975 as SAAL ordered three brand-new Boeing 727-294s and two Boeing 747SPs. Awaiting the delivery of its new planes, the airline leased Boeing 707s to improve its service offer. In all, two Boeing 707-420s and six Boeing 707-320s were leased in at various times between 1974 and 1976 and were used to reinforce frequencies and add new destinations to the network.
The SyrianAir styling was officially adopted on November 11, 1975, in anticipation of the delivery of the new Boeing fleet and to generate a more modern and international image. However, SyrianAir's official and legal title continued to be Syrian Arab Airlines.
The Boeing 727s supplemented the Caravelles throughout the network, while the Boeing 747SPs were used on high-load international routes. Demand was particularly high on these routes in 1976, especially following the repeated closures of the Beirut International Airport, and the increasing number of passengers using Damascus International Airport for travel to and from neighboring and war-stricken Lebanon. A record 480,000 passengers were carried by the airline in 1976.
The two jumbo jets were ordered in 1976 to operate transatlantic services to New York City. SyrianAir and the Royal Jordanian Airlines were to join forces in launching the first transatlantic route ever operated by an Arab Middle Eastern airline. The joint flight agreement never really materialized, and Alia launched independently its own Amman-New York flights in 1977. SyrianAir started its Boeing 747SP operations on June 1, 1976, using the jumbo jet on the Damascus-Munich-London sector.
During the seventies, Syrianair managed to acquire a modern fleet, revamp its image and operate a profitable passenger network on three continents largely satisfying the needs of the Syrian market. Its fares were accessible and attracted budget travellers flying between Europe and South Asia. The climate of stability and economic prosperity in Syria had a determining influence on the positive results of the airline. The eighties brought about new challenges to both, Syria and its airline.