BEIRUT: Syria’s national airline cancelled a flight to Aleppo yesterday because of fighting near its international airport.
Cairo airport officials said a flight that was supposed to stop in Aleppo before continuing to Damascus flew straight to Damascus “because of the deteriorated security situation” near the Aleppo airport.
It was the first time a flight to Syria’s largest city had been canceled because of fighting near the airport, they said. The Syrian government and its airline did not comment.
Rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad have launched a campaign to seize government airports as a way to cut the regime’s supply lines and strike a blow against its air power, the biggest threat faced by rebel forces.
While the rebels have yet to seize a major airport, they have disrupted traffic at some with heavy machine-gun fire, and flights to Damascus have been cancelled due to fighting near its airport.
Syrian airlines is the only carrier still flying to Damascus, running one flight per day, though some officials still consider the trip too risky.
Aleppo’s international airport is just southeast of the city and still controlled by the government. It sits next to the Nerab military airport. The base of the army’s 80th Brigade is nearby.
Rebels have been clashing with government troops near the airport for days, and videos posted online show them firing homemade rockets and shooting at targets inside. The videos appeared genuine.
An Aleppo activist said the area’s rebels see the airport’s capture as a clear way to weaken regime forces fighting in the city since it is used to bring in supplies.
“Since the rebels have targeted all the supply roads, the airport is the main way for forces in the city to get supplies, so if they can take it over it will be a big blow to the regime,” the activist said via Skype, speaking on condition of anonymity out of security concerns.
He and other activists reported a large explosion inside the airport on Friday, though it was unclear what caused it.
Illustrating the danger of the government’s air power, anti-regime activists reported a number of deadly airstrikes in different parts of Syria, including in the towns of Azaz and Tel Rifat north of Aleppo and Al Nishabiyeh, south of Damascus.
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