"Zaman Al-Wasl" has learned that SyriaJet—owned by Adel Mardini—is participating in the investment project to convert the Mezzeh Military Airport into a civilian airport designated for the presidency, VIPs, and senior officials.
The company, established in Syria in 2025, is a subsidiary of the UAE-based parent company Jetex, which was founded in 2005.
Reports indicate that the same company established VIP lounges at Ben Gurion Airport (Tel Aviv); it won a tender in 2025—valued at over $50 million—to build and manage the VIP lounge in Terminal 3 for an initial six-year term with an option for extension. Additionally, the company is listed as a ground service provider at Israeli airports, a fact that previously drew attention alongside the removal of the Hebrew language from the company's website.
This move raises significant security and sovereignty concerns regarding the transfer of the Syrian Foreign Ministry’s newly acquired private jet from the oversight of the General Establishment of Civil Aviation to Mardini’s company. Such a transfer poses risks to the security of communication and navigation systems, the maintenance of presidential aircraft, and the protection of data concerning flights, passengers, and the sensitive destinations of official delegations. The investment project for Mezzeh Airport also carries grave human rights and humanitarian implications, given that the site is deeply etched in the memories of Syrians—particularly victims of detention and enforced disappearance. Consequently, rushing to commercially redevelop the site before clarifying the fate of the missing and achieving transitional justice amounts to an attempt to bypass the painful questions of the past by building over the victims' suffering. There are calls for such sovereign projects to undergo rigorous security scrutiny that takes precedence over purely financial considerations.
Mr. President,
Contracts for the investment of aviation infrastructure are exceptionally sensitive when they transcend purely commercial frameworks to touch upon the core of national security and sovereignty.
Herein lies the critical danger of handing over "ground services" and VIP lounges to private companies. These facilities are not merely hospitality hubs; they serve as digital and logistical nodes that control sensitive communication systems, precisely track flight data, and monitor the routes and destinations of high-ranking officials and sovereign figures—in addition to directly overseeing the maintenance of leadership aircraft.
Granting private or transnational entities the authority to control such vital data opens the door wide to risks of intelligence and technical breaches, threatening the theft of strategic information that compromises state security and the safety of official delegations.
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