Southwind Airlines is a Turkish leisure airline founded in April 2022 by Cortex Havacılık ve Turizm Ticaret A.Ş. Flights to Russia commenced in August of that year, while Germany was added to its network a month later. The airline's main base and headquarters are in Antalya. The airline was banned from EU airspace in March 2024.
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Founded | April 2022; 2 years ago (2022-04) | ||||||
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Hubs | Antalya Airport | ||||||
Fleet size | 12 | ||||||
Destinations | 20 | ||||||
Headquarters | Antalya, Turkey | ||||||
Key people | Şükrü Can (CEO) | ||||||
Website | southwindairlines.com |
Southwind Airlines was formally announced in April 2022, based out of Antalya, Turkey. Affiliated with Russian tour operator Pegas Touristik,[citation needed] the airline aims to prevent the loss of Russian tourists coming to Turkey following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1] The airline received preclearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in June of that year.[2] The first commercial flight was flown to Perm on 12 August.[3]
Charter flights to Germany commenced in September 2022.[4] In February 2023, the airline announced plans to carry tourists to Antalya from 16 Russian cities during the summer season.[5] The number of aircraft in the fleet is expected to be 14 by the end of 2023.[6]
On 25 March 2024, Southwind Airlines was banned by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency from operating flights to Finland. According to the agency, Southwind Airlines is factually a Russian airline attempting to bypass European Union sanctions against Russia, imposed in response to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine.[7]
Following the Finnish assessment, the airline was banned on 28 March 2024 from the entire EU airspace, subject to regulation No 833/2014.[8] The airline was to begin flights under its own brand to several airports in the United Kingdom in summer 2024 as well, which however were all subsequently also cancelled.[9] Shorty after, Switzerland formally banned the airline as well.[10]
Southwind Airlines operates flights to the following destinations:[citation needed]
As of April 2024[update], Southwind Airlines operates the following aircraft:[18]
Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
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Airbus A321-200 | 2 | — | 220 | |
Airbus A321neo | 1 | — | 240 | |
Airbus A330-200 | 2 | — | 312 | |
Boeing 737 MAX 8 | 3 | — | 189 | |
Boeing 777-300 | 3 | — | 550 | |
Boeing 777-300ER | 1 | — | 531 | |
Total | 12 | — |
Media related to Southwind Airlines at Wikimedia Commons