Syrian Air

[3] Syrian Airways was established in 1946, with two propeller aircraft and started to fly between a domestic networks such as Damascus, Aleppo, Deir ez-Zour, Palmyra and Qamishli.[4] Syrian Airways also operated a regional network, with flights to Beirut, Baghdad, Jerusalem, Amman; followed by Cairo, Kuwait, Doha and Jeddah.[4] 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.[7] 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.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.[12] [13] These jets enabled the airline to expand and reinforce its network with the addition of flights to Luxembourg, Prague, Athens, Istanbul, Teheran and Bahrain.In 1966, a pool partnership with Middle East Airlines – Air Liban was signed and a twice-daily rotation between Beirut and Damascus was launched.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.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.[4] 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.[4] 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.[4] During the seventies, SyrianAair 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.[17] There was a growing rift between the U.S. administration in particular and Syria; both parties found themselves often at odds regarding a variety of regional issues, from the Iranian revolution, the Palestinian cause, to the raging conflict in Lebanon and Iran-Iraq War.[18][19] These tensions ultimately resulted in economic sanctions voted by the U.S Congress, which accused Syria of harbouring and embracing illegal opposition movements.[17] The sanctions, which became effective in the early eighties, apart from harming Syria's economy in general, prevented SyrianAir from buying newer Western equipment.[20] This climate of difficult economics also resulted in a relatively austere on-board service and in the persistence of tedious multiple-leg routings, while competing airlines were offering nonstop frequent flights.In 1986, SyrianAir had to suspend flights to one of its long-standing and most important destinations, London, because of a diplomatic crisis between the UK and Syria following the Hindawi affair.While sanctions and harsh economics kept it lagging way behind its competitors, and while the demise of the Soviet Union cast doubts on the future of its Tupolev fleet, SyrianAir's fortunes changed following the Gulf War in 1990.[4] In 1997, the airline took drastic measures in reducing its workforce to 2,331, as operating profits had declined to 44 million USD during the previous year.By 1998, the Tupolev Tu-134 was restricted to the Budapest, Beirut, Kuwait, Deir ez-Zor and Qamishly sectors while the Tu-154s were still flown to Bucharest, Moscow, Istanbul, Cairo and Aleppo.The company is discussing a lawsuit against European Union countries since Syrian Airlines "did not violate any laws nor did it jeopardise safety".[40] The airline fleet previously included the following aircraft:[citation needed] Media related to Syrian Air at Wikimedia Commons