International flights resumed at Syria's main airport in Damascus on Tuesday for the first time since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al-Assad last month, AFP journalists said.Excitement was in the air at the Damascus airport,

The first Qatari commercial flight in nearly 13 years landed in Damascus in the afternoon, one month after Islamist rebels overthrew the Assad regime.

International flights resumed from Syria’s main airport in Damascus on Tuesday for the first time since rebels toppled president Bashar Al Assad last month. A Syrian Airlines flight with 145 passengers left the capital at about 11.

Passengers at Damascus airport hugged their families and cried with joy on Tuesday (January 7), as international flights resumed for the first time since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime last month.

Crowds of people were gathered to greet those arriving at Damascus airport, with several Syrians returning for the first time in years.

The country’s new leaders are pushing to restore a sense of normalcy. But Syria remains under a host of international sanctions imposed during the Assad regime.

International commercial flights have resumed at Damascus airport, for the first time since the ouster of Basshar al Assad by Islamist-led rebels. Some of the Syrians waiting to welcome their loved ones home had spent more than a decade apart from each other.