Last modified: 2020-09-25 by ian macdonald
Keywords: syria | syrian air |
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image by Randy Young, 2 August 2020
Syrian Air (السورية للطيران) is the flag carrier of Syria. It was
established on December 21, 1946 as Syrian Airways (other sources mention
مؤسسة الطيران السورية (English: Syrian Aviation Corporation), as an
institution (that is: a State-owned company). Financial difficulties caused
the suspension of services in 1948, but after receiving government support
operations were resumed in 1951. In February 1958, Syria and Egypt decided to unite under the
leadership of president Gamal Abdel Nasser, and the two countries became
provinces of the United Arab Republic. The merger between الخطوط
الجوية السورية (English: Syrian Airlines, also translated as Syrian Airways)
مصر إير (English: Egypt Air, transliterated to MisrAir), the state-owned
airlines of Syria and Egypt came as a consequence of this political union.
The airlines merged on December 25, 1958, to form شركة الطيران العربية
المتحدة (English: United Arab Airlines, UAA). At the time of the merger,
Syrian Airways was still only a small regional airline while its Egyptian
counterpart, Misrair, was the largest and oldest airline in the Arab world,
operating an extensive network out of Cairo, the region's metropolis. The
union between Egypt and Syria ended on September 26, 1961, amidst tensions
between the leaderships of the two provinces of the UAR. The Syrian Arab
Republic was declared in Syria, while Egypt chose to continue to carry the
title of UAR for a few more years, resulting in the renaming of the company
once again, as مؤسسة الطيران العربية السورية (English: Syrian Arab Aviation
Corporation, or Syrian Arab Aviation Airlines) in October 1961. The "SyrianAir"
acronym was officially adopted on November 11, 1975, again becoming private,
in anticipation of the delivery of the new Boeing fleet and in order to
generate a more modern and international image. However, SyrianAir's official
and legal title continued to be الطيران العربية السورية (English: Syrian Arab
Aviation or Syrian Arab Airlines). On January 9, 2020 the country's President
introduced a legislative Decree to change the name from Syrian Arab Airlines
to Syrian Air".
Sources: https://syriaair.com/history/,
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Arab_Airlines,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Air and
https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Syrian-Arab-Airlines
The current flag is a horizontal blue background featuring the bird
logo (https://www.seatlink.com/images/logos/no-text/sm/syrian-arab-air.png,
source:
https://www.seatlink.com/airlines/syrian-arab-air/seat-maps/syrian-arab-air-airbus-a320-seat-map/) in the middle, and the name Syrian Air on the bottom left corner and the
inscription in Arabic on the bottom right corner, all in white outline and
white color font type. This logo was introduced in 1973, featuring of course
the airline's new logo, "a mythical bird rising over a Mediterranean-blue
disk" (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Air).
The flag shown above is based on https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTe0pwyuLePUQNtJmjxTztMTzrswuyh5FrFICg3QU3K08IhNU-n&s, source: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Syrian-Air-Training-Center-115098962528159/posts/). This is the current desktop flag of the company.
Esteban Rivera, 1 August 2020
image by Esteban Rivera, 1 August 2020
For visual reference, here's the logo explained (unfortunately it is a
graphic with Arabic text and I cannot translate it). Image from:
https://www.facebook.com/QSWRB.sy/photos/a.114881023302987/127031348754621/?type=3&theater,
source:
https://www.facebook.com/QSWRB.sy/
Esteban Rivera, 1 August 2020
image by Esteban Rivera, 1 August 2020
There are also images of the previous airline name and logo, as shown. This image is from the original, located here: http://syriaair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/1-300x200.jpg, source: https://syriaair.com/history). This is an old set of pilot wings showing the previous airline logo, together with the company's name on top).
Esteban Rivera, 1 August 2020