Syria's Aleppo Airport has Resumed Passenger Flights for the First Time since 2012

A Damascus passenger plane landed at Aleppo Airport,marking the resumption of flights between Syria's two largest cities for the first time since 2012, the Associated Press reported.

The flight carrying Syrian officials and journalists is a symbolic message from President Bashar Assad's government just days after government forces consolidated control of the northwestern province of Aleppo and conquered the last stretches of the M5 strategic highway linking Aleppo with Damascus. This highway was opened for the first time in eight years.

Syrian Air's plane landed in Aleppo after a 40-minute flight from Damascus. Earlier in the day, Syrian Tourism Minister Bishr al-Yazigi and Transport Minister Ali Hammoud officially reopened the airport.