Turkish Airlines is resuming flights to the Syrian capital, Damascus (DAM), and to Benghazi (BEN), Libya’s second city, from its Istanbul (IST) hub.
The two destinations had featured on Turkish Airlines’ network in the past but were discontinued due to the military and political situation in both countries.
With the relaunch of these two routes Turkish Airlines strengthens its position as the carrier flying to the most international destinations. As of January 2025, the Turkish flag carrier flies to 352 destinations in 131 countries.
Turkish Airlines is the second major international airline to operate in Damascus after the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime in December 2024. On January 16, 2025, Royal Jordanian also announced the reinstatement of its Amman to Damascus flights, with a four-weekly frequency from January 31, 2025, with the plan to increase it to daily by April 2025.
The announcement was posted on X by the Deputy Chairman and CEO of Turkish Airlines and follows a visit by Syria’s new foreign minister, Asaad al-Shibani to Ankara on January 15, 2025, for talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Little else is known of the planned flights between Istanbul and Damascus other than the fact the route will start on January 23, 2025, and will, at least initially, be operated thrice-weekly.
Shortly after this announcement, Turkish Airlines also posted a note on its website stating that Syrian authorities have placed some restrictions on entering the country through this new route. In particular, the country’s new authorities appear to have imposed a total entry ban on Israeli and Iranian nationals. Lebanese citizens and members of the press may also face some restrictions.
Earlier in January 2025, Qatar Airways reinstated its route linking Doha (DOH) to the Syrian capital, which had been suspended for 13 years.
On the same day, Turkish Airlines restarted flights to another airport, Benina International Airport, near Benghazi, in eastern Libya, an area which most international airlines have long avoided due to continued political instability in the country.
Libya has been partitioned de facto since the civil war that broke out between different political factions after the fall of the country’s late dictator, Moammar al-Gaddafi, in 2011. The eastern part of Libya, where Benghazi is located, has been under the control of forces commanded by Khalifa Haftar.
In 2015, Turkish Airlines suspended flights to Benghazi amid a deteriorating security situation in that part of the country.
Interestingly, Turkey has long been a supporter of the internationally recognized Libyan government, based in Tripoli in the west of the country, although it has been reported that a number of diplomatic overtures between Turkey and Haftar have taken place during 2024.
Turkish Airlines will operate its Benghazi flights thrice-weekly with B737-800 aircraft.
In April 2024, the Turkish carrier resumed flights to Mitiga International Airport (MJI), Tripoli, with a five-weekly service from Istanbul.
According to Cirium’s SRS Analyzer, the only two other international airlines to have scheduled flights into Libya are Royal Jordanian and ITA Airways. The former serves both Tripoli and Benghazi from Amman (AMM), while the latter reinstated its route between Rome-Fiumicino (FCO) and Tripoli with the launch of a twice-weekly service on January 12, 2025.
