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, but this ban was lifted in December 2024. It is suspected of being related to Russian Nordwind Airlines, with which it shares some of the crews and planes.
History Foundation Southwind Airlines was formally announced in April 2022, based out of Antalya, Turkey. The airline aims to prevent the loss of Russian tourists coming to Turkey following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The airline received preclearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in June of that year. The first commercial flight was flown to Perm on 12 August.
Charter flights to Germany commenced in September 2022. In February 2023, the airline announced plans to carry tourists to Antalya from 16 Russian cities during the summer season. The number of aircraft in the fleet is expected to be 14 by the end of 2023.
In July 2024, Southwind Airlines joined IATA.
EU airspace ban and lifting 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 a de facto Russian airline attempting to circumvent European Union sanctions against Russia, imposed in response to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine.
Following the Finnish assessment, the airline was banned on 28 March 2024 from the entire EU airspace, subject to regulation No 833/2014. 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.aeroroutes.com - SOUTHWIND AIRLINES NS24 UK SERVICE REVISION – 26MAR24 26 March 2024 Shortly after, Switzerland formally banned the airline as well.aerotelegraph.com (German) 9 April 2024
However, in the next publication on December 13 2024, Southwind Airlines was removed from the List.
Destinations Southwind Airlines operates flights to the following destinations:
Country City Airport Notes RefsBahrain Manama Bahrain International Airport Belarus Minsk Minsk National Airport Germany Berlin Berlin Brandenburg Airport Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Airport Hamburg Hamburg Airport Hanover Hannover Airport Leipzig Leipzig/Halle Airport Munich Munich Airport Nuremberg Nuremberg Airport Stuttgart Stuttgart Airport Greece Heraklion Heraklion International Airport Israel Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport Italy Bergamo Orio al Serio International Airport Kazakhstan Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport Lebanon Beirut Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport Moldova Chișinău Chișinău International Airport North Macedonia Skopje Skopje International Airport Russia Arkhangelsk Talagi Airport Irkutsk International Airport Irkutsk Kaliningrad Khrabrovo Airport Kazan Ğabdulla Tuqay Kazan International Airport Krasnodar Krasnodar International Airport Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk International Airport Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport Zhukovsky International Airport Nizhny Novgorod Strigino International Airport Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport Orenburg Orenburg Airport Perm Bolshoye Savino Airport Saint Petersburg Pulkovo Airport Samara Kurumoch International Airport Saratov Saratov Gagarin Airport Sochi Sochi International Airport Ufa Mustai Karim Ufa International Airport Volgograd Gumrak Airport Yekaterinburg Koltsovo International Airport Switzerland Zürich Zurich Airport SwitzerlandFranceGermanyBaselMulhouseFreiburgEuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg Turkey Antalya Antalya Airport Bodrum Milas-Bodrum Airport Dalaman Dalaman Airport Istanbul Istanbul Airport Trabzon Trabzon Airport
Fleet
, Southwind Airlines operates the following aircraft: + Southwind Airlines fleetAircraftIn serviceOrders PassengersNotesAirbus A321-2004—220Airbus A321neo1—240Airbus A330-2002—353Boeing 737 MAX 83—189Boeing 777-3003—550Highest density 777s in the world.Boeing 777-300ER1—531Total14—
See also List of airlines of Turkey
References
External links