DAMASCUS: Syria’s national air carrier Syrian Airlines has acquired two new airplanes made by the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR, the first major upgrade to the country’s national fleet in years.
The purchase, made possible through a $45 million loan from the Commercial Bank of Syria, will provide aircraft for two new routes between Syria’s second largest city Aleppo and Moscow and Madrid.
Syrian Airlines, previously know as Syrian Arab Airlines, was established in 1946 and is one of the oldest airlines in the region.
The airline has encountered serious problems upgrading its fleet under US economic sanctions.
“The airline has suffered under the USA embargo from getting spare parts in a timely fashion,” Gulf based aviation expert Oussama Salah, told The Media Line. “Currently the airline is operating 6 Airbus 320s, 6 Boeing 727s, 2 Boeing 747 and some Russian aircraft.”
The Boeing 727 was one if the first medium range planes developed by Boeing. Syrian Arab Airlines purchased used Boeing 727s in the 1970s when the carrier was modernizing, but the aircraft went out of production in 1984.
Before the latest acquisition the airline’s most modern aircraft have been Airbus planes purchased in the 1990s.
The United States currently levies three types of sanctions on Syria, the most comprehensive of which is the Syria Accountability Act, which prohibits the export to Syria of goods containing more than 10 percent of US manufactured parts. The act also prohibits Syrian air carriers from taking off, landing or flying over the United States.
Other US sanctions target the Commercial Bank of Syria for its alleged role in terror financing, as well as number of Syrian nationals for involvement in terrorism.
Analysts say Syria’s close relations with its distant neighbor to the east have kept it afloat.
“Syria is, in name, a socialist republic and as such has a recent history of close relations with Russia, although relations have been turbulent,” Rory Fyfe, an expert on Syria with the Economist Intelligence Unit, told The Media Line. “Russia sells military equipment to Syria and Stroytransgaz, a Russian predominantly state-owned gas company, carries out a great deal of work in Syria. Russia recently cancelled $10 billion of debt that was owed to it by Syria, which is an indication that there are still close ties.”
The sanctions are not the only problem for Syrian Airlines, as the company faces increasing competition from both low cost and premium international carriers, particularly from the Gulf region, who are able to take advantage of the rising number of tourists visiting the country.
Low cost Gulf airlines, mainly Air Arabia from the United Arab Emirates, now enable Syrian tourists to purchase highly discounted flights to the Gulf.
