Syria and Saudi Arabia found Flynas Syria, airports in Aleppo
Damascus and Riyadh on Tuesday signed an investment package worth around 6 billion dollars; the new airline Flynas Syria starts operating in Q4 2026.
In the Syrian capital Damascus, at the Mukatab Tishreen palace on Tuesday afternoon, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud signed a package of investment agreements covering aviation, telecommunications and energy, with a total value of around 6 billion dollars. The agreements form the largest investment package Saudi Arabia has signed with Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, a signal for regional diplomacy and for Belgrade’s cooperation with Gulf partners that should not be overlooked.
The centrepiece of the package is the founding of Flynas Syria, a low-cost airline that will begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2026, headquartered in Damascus with an initial fleet of 12 Airbus A320neo aircraft. Flynas Syria will be a joint venture between Saudi Arabia’s Flynas group and the Syrian government, with ownership split 60-40 in favour of the Saudi side. Investment in the company over the first five years totals 850 million dollars, with a plan to expand the fleet to 30 aircraft by 2030.
What exactly does the package contain?
The second element is the reconstruction of two airports in Aleppo, with combined capacity of 12 million passengers a year. The airport investment totals about 2 billion dollars and will be financed by the Saudi Elaf fund, which in the past three years has invested in infrastructure projects in Egypt and Jordan. The third element is the modernisation of Syria’s telecommunications network, focused on 5G coverage in the main cities, with investment of about 1.8 billion dollars. The fourth element is the rebuilding of the Homs power plant, destroyed in two phases during the war, with investment of 1.3 billion dollars.
From Damascus, President al-Sharaa after the signing told the Syrian state agency SANA that the package was “the first step towards economic normalisation that the Syrian people will directly benefit from.” From the Saudi delegation, Prince Al Saud on the same day told reporters in Damascus that the investment is “part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s long-term visionary plan for regional stabilisation.” Abdullah al-Shaji, deputy consul at the Saudi Consulate in Belgrade, said in a statement to RTS that “the Kingdom is ready to consider similar investment formats with the Republic of Serbia,” language that in Belgrade opens the question of possible cooperation between the two states.
What this means for Serbia and the region
For Serbia, which over the past two years has been in multilateral contact with Saudi Arabia on Gulf investments in Serbian energy infrastructure, the package is a precedent that can be drawn on in further talks. Serbia’s Finance Ministry over the past three years has held two senior contacts with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, with the idea of Saudi investment in solar capacity in southern Serbia and logistics centres in Vojvodina. Finance Minister Sinisa Mali, on a February 2026 visit to Riyadh, signalled “more serious cooperation” with the Saudi funds would be considered, but no concrete agreements have been concluded so far.
From Brussels, EU High Representative Kaja Kallas on Tuesday evening told the Foreign Affairs Council that the EU is “in dialogue with the new Syrian government” and would “consider fully lifting the remaining sanctions introduced under the Assad regime” by the end of June 2026. Brussels is expected to align with Damascus on talks about the return of Syrian residents from Europe, an issue particularly relevant to Germany, which hosts about 700,000 Syrian refugees. From Berlin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz on the same day said the return of refugees “would have to be organised in line with international law and with safety guarantees.”
From Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron, in a statement at the Foreign Policy Council session held at the Elysee on Tuesday, gave his support to the Saudi-Syrian investment but stressed that “the rebuilding of Syria must proceed with transparency on the sources of financing and oversight of implementation.” Syrian President al-Sharaa the same day, in a short statement in Damascus, announced a visit to Paris in June 2026, on which European diplomats are already working.
The next senior Saudi visit to Damascus is planned for the second half of June 2026, with talks on energy investment in solar capacity in the Syrian Badia desert.
