Illustrative photo from open sources
The European Union has closed its airspace to the Turkish airline Southwind Airlines as part of sanctions imposed against Russia, reports the Turkish industry publication Turizm Guncel. The basis was the conclusions of the Finnish aviation authorities that actual control over Southwind is exercised from Russia. Information about the flight ban was confirmed by the Russian association of tour operators ATOR, reports Voice of America.
The EU closed its airspace to aircraft from Russia from February 27, 2022, after the start of a full-scale Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
Southwind Airlines was established in April 2022. The company's aircraft fly to Russia and Belarus. As Turizm Guncel notes, the company planned flights to Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart. In addition, Heraklion in Greece was included in the program.
According to Bild, all Southwind aircraft and most of the employees were transferred from the Russian airline Nordwind. Bloomberg also wrote that some Russian airlines are considering the possibility of creating Turkish carriers to circumvent sanctions.
Prepared by: Sergey Daga