"We hope to operate our first flights in mid-May," Kinda Airlines chairman Naim al-Jarrah said, adding that the exact timing of the launch hangs on international insurance issues and aircraft testing.

Founded three years ago, the Damascus-based Kinda Airlines received a license in 2013 to fly from the capital and the Mediterranean port city of Latakia to several Arab countries.

Jarrah said Aleppo and Qamishli airports, in the north and northeast, were currently up for expansion.

So far, Kinda Airlines has obtained permits to fly to Baghdad, Amman and Kuwait City.

It is awaiting permission to fly to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon, Jarrah said.

The company has a rented fleet of four Airbus 320s, including a standby emergency aircraft, from airlines in Jordan and the UAE.

It plans to start with domestic flights, and then operate to Arab cities, then East Asia and finally Europe, Jarrah said.

Jarrah said the airline is promising, because "the security around airports is promising, or else we would not have been able to rent the planes or obtain the permits from IATA and licensed international insurance companies."

Kinda Airlines is starting off with a capital of $15 million -- 60 percent invested by Jarrah, and the remaining 40 percent by other Syrian investors.

RA/NJF