Aleppo Airport reopened to civilian traffic in mid-February, after the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) took control of the area around the city, Minister of Transport Ali Hammoud said. The last commercial flights to the city were in 2012.

The opening of the airport, which serves Syria's second-largest city and its former economic capital, was made possible after the SAA took control of the entire Aleppo-Damascus M5 highway, which is in the southwest of the city. The airport is located to the east of the city.

Talking to reporters on the flight 40-minute sector from the capital city on February 19, the Minister said: "The return of Aleppo Airport to operation, the resumption of domestic and then foreign flights, is a great victory." There are plans for regular flights to the Syrian capital, as well as to Cairo International in the short-term.

The inaugural flight to Damascus was performed by Syrianair (RB, Damascus) A320-200 YK-AKF (msn 1117).