Southwind Airlines
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 was lifted in December 2024.
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 has 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. Shortly after, Switzerland formally banned the airline as well.
However, in the next publication on December 13 2024, Southwind Airlines was removed from the List.