Although the airport was closed to civilians around October 2015,[3] it has been reopened again, and Syrian flight companies including Cham Wings Airlines and Syrian Air have provided regular flights into Qamishli from Damascus, Latakia and Beirut.

[4] On 21 January 2016, Russia's activity presumably aimed at setting up a new military base in the government-controlled and mainly abandoned airport was first reported.

[5][6][7] On 7 December 2024, a day prior the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took control of the airport following the withdrawal of pro-regime militants.

[8] A few days later, reports emerged that Israeli airstrikes targeted weapons depots left in the facility.

[9] Later that month, on 16 December, two Russian Ilyushin military transport planes withdrew from the airport.