Damascus resumes Saudi flights but sanctions stifle trade

July 17, 2024, 8:28 AM

Syrian pilgrims queue at Damascus airport on their way to visit Saudi Arabia in June

Weekly flights Damascus to Riyadh
Gulf business relations hampered
Saudi Arabia cracks down on drugs

Syria has resumed weekly flights from Damascus to Saudi Arabia as commercial relations warm up further after diplomatic ties were restored last year.

But Syrian integration into regional economies is still moving slowly, because of US sanctions.

Syrianair began the once-weekly flights to Riyadh on July 10, adding its list of Gulf destinations including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Doha, Kuwait and Muscat.

Newsletter
Get the Best of AGBI delivered straight to your inbox every week

The private Syrian operator Cham Wings flies to Oman, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

Syria reopened its embassy in Riyadh after a new ambassador was appointed in December. Saudi Arabia appointed its ambassador to Damascus in May. Syrian pilgrims were able to take part in this year’s Hajj in June.

But vaguely worded US sanctions introduced in 2019, which include secondary sanctions for activities deemed “significant” support to the government, including the construction or oil and gas sectors, have put limits on Gulf states’ ability to reach out.

National airlines have not reciprocated the Syrianair flights. Saudia did not respond to a query about whether it would fly to Damascus.

The United Arab Emirates has been the most active. Hussein Arnous, the Syrian prime minister, met Syrian expatriate businessmen during a trip to Dubai in November last year after the Syrian-Emirati Business Council was reactivated.

The UAE also built homes for Syrians affected by the 2023 earthquake in south-east Turkey.

But a project agreed in 2021 for a consortium of UAE companies to build a solar power station outside Damascus has failed to materialise, possibly due to US intervention.

Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a political scientist from the UAE, said the US reneged earlier this year on a green light it had given to the project but Gulf governments would persevere in order to help Syria.

“The UAE started that project, invested a lot, sent experts to work things out on the ground, then all of a sudden the Americans said ‘no, stop’,” Abdulla said.

“The UAE is serious about opening up to Syria and they are taking the lead on this front. The UAE is going forward and the Saudis are following. We’ll see more of it in future.”

UAE exports to Syria stood at $453 million in 2022, while Syria’s exports were $52 million, according to historical data from the US-based Observatory of Economic Complexity.

Combined Syria-Saudi trade was at $385 million in 2021.

Drug smuggling

One driver of Saudi ties is a desire to limit drug smuggling. The US says Syria is the leading producer and exporter of fenethylline, or Captagon, an addictive amphetamine considered an epidemic in countries from the US to Saudi Arabia.

This year alone Saudi authorities say they have found around 17 million Captagon pills at ports and border crossings on seven occasions, three times at the Al-Haditha border crossing with Jordan.

“The government doesn’t have much fear about the potential impact of alcohol on society, the drugs are a bigger evil,” said a Saudi businessman who requested anonymity.