Turkish airline banned from EU skies over Russian influence in management
Southwind Airlines airplane (gettyimages.com)
Turkish airline Southwind Airlines has been banned from flying in the EU. The harsh sanctions were imposed because of the Russian trace in the management. The ban has already affected the carrier's flight program and plans to transport European tourists to Turkish resorts, according to avianews.com.
The Turkish airline has been banned from taking off and landing at airports in the European Union, as well as transiting the EU. The decision was made on March 28, aerotelegraph.com reported.
The EU ban was preceded by the Finnish regulator's refusal to approve Southwind Airlines' application for Antalya-Helsinki flights. The Finnish transport authority Traficom concluded that the Turkish airline and its control were linked to the Russian side.
Before that, Southwind Airlines had been flying freely to the EU. Now the carrier has to cancel flights and change routes. The Turkish airline canceled flights from Kaliningrad to Antalya. The route from Minsk to Istanbul now goes through Russia, Kazakhstan, and Georgia, instead of Hungary and Bulgaria.
The air carrier will also have to abandon plans to launch flights to dozens of destinations from European countries to Turkish resorts.
Southwind Airlines was established in 2022 to transport tourists of the Russian tour operator Pegas Touristik from Russia to Turkish resorts. This made it possible to circumvent the Western sanctions imposed on the Russian airline Nordwind Airlines, affiliated with Pegas Touristik. Then some of the Nordwind Airlines aircraft were transferred to the Southwind Airlines fleet.
We also wrote that the Japanese airline repainted all its planes because Russia invaded Ukraine. This way, their logo will not be associated with Russian aggression.
