A CONTINUING U.S EMBARGO HIT HARD SYRIAN AIRLINE

DAMASCUS - A continuing United States embargo on Damascus has hit the national airline hard, preventing the company from growing at a time when air traffic at the capital’s airport is rising, local analysts say.

• Syrian officials say Washington thwarted a plan by the airline, Syrianair, to buy new Airbus planes from Europe to complement its ageing fleet because they contain American components.
• The website Syria Report reported in October that Syrianair was reduced to flying four Airbus A-320s including one leased from Jordan after Washington halted work on the engines of two others that had been taken to Germany for repair. Syrianair bought the A320s in the mid-1990s.
• State-owned Al-Baath daily reported in December the airline was considering an offer to buy two ATR72-900 planes from France for 39 million euros. Such planes carry 68 to 78 passengers with a range of 1,500 kilometres.
• The Airbus deal was seen as a sign of economic and political rapprochement between Syria and France, where the planes are assembled, and to show Damascus’s intention to invest in refurbishing the airline.
• The Syrian transport minister, Yarob Badr, said that the US commerce department had vetoed the sale of the planes to Damascus, the official Tishreen newspaper quoted him as saying in a December 28 interview.
• Although Airbus planes are made in Europe, they contain US-made parts, which makes their sale to Damascus subject to American sanctions imposed on Syria in 2004.
• Washington accuses Damascus of sponsoring terrorism and has imposed a series of punitive measures that prohibit the export of most goods – excluding food and medicine - containing more than ten per cent of US-manufactured components to Syria.
• The Syrian national airline had lost an important opportunity to grow because of the US embargo, an official working at the carrier told IWPR.
• The recent US decision to renew the embargo was unexpected, especially since the Americans had shown positive signs that they were willing to lift the ban on Syria, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Source: Middle East Online