The European Union has banned Southwind Airlines, based in Antalya, Turkey, from using its airspace. This decision is linked to an investigation by the Finnish aviation agency Traficom.
According to Finnish aviation authorities, control of the airline is not held by Turkish entities but by Russian ones. They established Southwind Airlines, while personnel and aircraft were leased from Nordwind. As a result, Finland did not grant permission for flights between Antalya and Helsinki. Two days ago, Brussels, under regulations associated with sanctions against Russia, prohibited the airline from using the union’s airspace.
As a result of this ban, Southwind has already canceled flights from Minsk to Istanbul, and tour operator Pegas has withdrawn its planned summer charter program from Kaliningrad to Antalya.
Tour operators Pegas Touristik and Coral Travel will transfer their tourists, who were supposed to depart for Egypt this weekend on Southwind Airlines flights, to Azur Air flights. On Friday, the Air Cairo SM903 flight with Pegas Touristik and Coral Travel tourists, operated by Southwind, was canceled. Russian tourists returned to Russia on Saturday.
UPDATE: Southwind Airlines officially canceled flights from Minsk to Istanbul starting from April 1, as announced by the Republican Union of Tourist Organizations, citing Pegas Touristik Belarus.
