Aleppo: A SyrianAir passenger plane landed on Wednesday at Aleppo's civilian airport, the first scheduled flight to touch down in the country's war-devastated economic hub for eight years.
The reopening of the airport comes days after the Russian-backed Syrian army said it had seized rural areas northwest of Aleppo, a major strategic gain in weeks of bombing of the last rebel bastion in northwestern Syria.
Government officials hope the resumption of commercial flights will help revive economic activity in the city, which was the scene of some of the most vicious fighting of the war between 2012 and 2016. Rebel-held eastern Aleppo was regained by government forces in 2016.
Transport Minister Ali Hammoud said authorities were waiting for approvals to resume international flights, with plans to reopen the route to Cairo next month.
Aleppo's other airport Nairab is a major military base that the Syrian air force uses to strike opposition areas and has also been a target of Israeli strikes on alleged Iranian bases.
In another strategic gain for President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian government forces aided by Iranian-backed militias consolidated their control over the M5 highway linking Aleppo to Damascus, a vital trade artery in northern Syria.
The highway, the fastest route between Syria's two biggest cities, should be ready for civilian use in the coming days for the first time in years, the authorities said.
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