2023-11-15 23:55:55
Fighter jets from Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia guarded the Air China plane carrying President Assad and his wife Asma from Syria.
President Bashar Assad on his September 20 trip to China traveled a route of more than 5,800 kilometers, extending the route by more than 1,000 km. This raises questions about the difficulty of this shift.
At the invitation of the Chinese government, Assad and his wife traveled aboard Air China Flight B6131, landing at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport.
Bashar al-Assad and his institutional entourage took off from Damascus at 9:00 pm local time on September 20, and under the joint escort of the Syrian Air Force and the Russian Air Force they flew towards the southeast, crossed into Iraq and arrived in Kuwait, where they landed and boarded an Air China charter flight.
Typically, presidents use state planes, but in this case, Assad opted for a commercial flight. This choice likely was driven by concerns about the Syrian presidential plane’s ability to make such a long journey, especially considering the effects of the prolonged war on the country’s air fleet.
Likewise, Assad’s security has been an equally notable concern. Given his location, he is a potential target for attacks, and traveling on a Chinese commercial plane was thought to offer a greater level of protection, deterring would-be attackers.
The flight path, as evidenced by tracks published by flight data platforms, was unusually long, deviating more than 1,000 kilometers to avoid specific areas.
The plane carrying the Syrian president traveled on an Air China charter flight, which flew west over the Gulf of Oman, then diverted around Pakistan, then crossed Pakistani airspace, and finally reached Xinjiang in China.
From the Chinese source Yiyouliao.com:
“The plane did not fly over Iran, but passed through the Arabian Sea”
1. This is because it is absolutely not safe to transit through Iraq. The United States is effectively in control of Iraq.
2. It would have been possible to pass safely through Iran, but Assad would then have to pass through Afghanistan, which is not safe.
3. Transiting through Pakistan is much safer than transiting through India, and requesting routes in advance is very important in terms of confidentiality. There is no guarantee when transiting through India.
4. The weather on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is highly changeable and dangerous, and the subtropical high pressure boundary and the cold air boundary recently converge on this line, making the weather conditions complex.
5. Flying south from Xinjiang to Beijing is not much further than taking the direct route from Xi’an to Hangzhou. You can refer to the curvature of the earth, so this route is organized taking into account all the influencing factors. (
This trip saw the cooperation and escort of several countries, including Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Pakistan and China, to ensure the safety of the Syrian president and his wife from potential threats.
Despite the long and complex journey, and the unstable situation in Syria, where the United States maintains a military presence in some areas and illegal transportation of oil is suspected, Bashar Assad’s government has shown resilience and control over the country, responding to challenges with determination.
It is impressive to observe how the world is gradually evolving towards a multipolar structure, an inherently risky process until a new globally accepted equilibrium is reached and stabilized.
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