Early history fighters at Aleppo-Nayrab airfield during the
Syrian campaign, July 1941 s at Aleppo airfield in June 1941 The history of the airport dates back to the beginning of the 20th century during the
French Mandate. In 1924,
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines made their first flight from
Amsterdam to
Batavia, Dutch East Indies, through the airport in Aleppo. The airport was upgraded and developed over the years until 1999 when the new current terminal was inaugurated.
Syrian civil war , 2016 In January 2013, the facility closed due to the
Syrian civil war, but after
Syrian Arab Army advances were made in the area, the airport briefly re-opened on 22 January 2014, welcoming its first civilian flight in more than a year (flights were suspended in December 2012), carrying foreign journalists to the city. Following the
Syrian government's recapture of eastern Aleppo during the
Battle of Aleppo, an airplane conducted its first flight from the airport in four years. The flight, conducted on 5 January 2017, was a trial attempt by the government before the airport fully opened to the public. On 17 February 2020,
Syrian Transport Minister Ali Hammoud announced that the airport would resume civilian operations, with the first flight from
Damascus to Aleppo scheduled for 19 February, and an additional route to
Cairo soon thereafter. On 1 March 2020, the airport was targeted by
Turkish drone and
artillery strikes during the
Operation Spring Shield. After an eight-year hiatus due to the Syrian Civil War, flights resumed on 19 February 2020, with the inaugural flight originating from
Damascus International Airport. On 15 January 2021, scheduled flights to
Beirut and
Erbil were resumed after a hiatus due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Israeli air raids 2022 In June 2022, after the Israeli bombing of Damascus International Airport, all
Cham Wings Air flights from Damascus were rerouted to Aleppo. On 6 September,
Israeli Air Force warplanes struck the airport from the direction of the
Mediterranean Sea, west of
Latakia, with air-to-surface missiles damaging the runway and putting it out of service.
2023 On 7 March 2023, the Israeli airstrikes hit the airport, targeting alleged
Iranian weapons transfers. The Syrian transport ministry said that the delivery of humanitarian aid to
Idlib Governorate following the
February earthquake would be rerouted to Damascus and
Latakia Airports after the "Israeli aggression". Later that month, on 22 March, Israel launched missiles at the airport for the third time in six months. On 1 May, Israeli airstrikes which targeted ammunition depot at the military airport killed a Syrian soldier and injured seven people including two civilians. On 28 August, another Israeli airstrike hit the airport, causing runway damage and shutting the airport down until the following day. On 12 October, Israel launched a large missile attack against both Aleppo and Damascus airports, which damaged their runways and made them temporarily closed, during the
skirmishes which occurred across the border, in contemporary with
Gaza war. Two days later, Israel retargeted the airport from the direction of the sea, west of Latakia, which put it out of service again. On 22 October, both Aleppo and Damascus airports were hit simultaneously, the third attack in two weeks.
2024 On 28 March, an airstrike by Israel after midnight aimed at an arms depot in Jibrin, near Aleppo International Airport, led to the deaths of 36 Syrian soldiers and 6
Hezbollah fighters, according to
SOHR.
Post-Ba'athist Syria On 30 November 2024, the
Syrian Democratic Forces took control of the airport amidst the
attack on Aleppo and the subsequent withdrawal of the
pro-government forces. Afterwards, militants with
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took over the airport, and captured 10 military aircraft. On 18 March 2025, the first commercial flight since the
fall of the Assad regime landed at Aleppo International Airport after it reopened for air traffic. ==Facilities==