Airlines cancel Damascus flights amid chaos
Dubai-based Emirates airline and EgyptAir have both stopped flights to Damascus, Syria, as rebel forces battled troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
According to reports, fierce clashes have been taking place close to the airport in the Syrian capital.
Emirates says on its website it is suspending daily service to Damascus "until further notice".
EgyptAir said it was suspending flights to the Syrian capital due to "the deterioration of the security situation".
The airline had a flight that landed in Damascus at 1:30pm local time but was immediately turned back to Cairo.
Internet service all over the country shut down completely at 12:26 local time, according to a blog post on Renesys, a US company tracking worldwide internet traffic.
by Gretchen Kelly, TravelMole US
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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