The EU has closed its airspace to the Turkish airline “Southwind Airlines” controlled by a Russian company.

The EU has closed its airspace to the Turkish airline “Southwind Airlines” controlled by a Russian company.
The EU has closed its airspace to the Turkish airline “Southwind Airlines” controlled by a Russian company.
--

The European Union (EU) has closed its airspace to the Turkish airline “Southwind Airlines” because the Finnish aviation authorities have concluded that this airline is controlled by a Russian company, reports the Turkish publication “Turizm Guncel”.

“Our overall assessment shows that a significant share of ownership and actual control does not belong to Turkish individuals or companies. We have concluded that the airline and its control are linked to Russian players,” Turizm Guncel quoted Jarko, head of the Finnish transport and communications authority Traficom as saying. Sarimeki said.

On March 25, Finland refused “Southwind Airlines” permission to fly to Helsinki. On the other hand, on March 28, the EU officially informed all member states of the bloc that “Southwind Airlines” planes are prohibited from flying into the EU airspace in accordance with the sanctions regulations, “Turizm Guncel” reports.

Southwind Airlines was founded in April 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which caused the EU to close its airspace to Russian aircraft. The airline’s headquarters is located in Antalya.

“Southwind Airlines” received part of the aircraft from the Russian airline “Nordwind Airlines”. It belongs to the Russian tourism company “Pegas Touristik”, which is also the owner of “Southwind Airlines”.

“Southwind Airlines” route network includes flights from Turkey to Russia, Belarus, Germany and more than ten other countries. Due to EU sanctions, the airline will have to abandon flights to Germany and Italy, as well as Switzerland, as it is surrounded by EU airspace on all sides.

“Bild” newspaper, referring to the internal information of the Polish Ministry of the Interior and the reports of the Polish security services, said that “Southwind Airlines” is involved in creating the flow of illegal migrants to Europe through Belarus and Russia, which is part of the hybrid operation of the Russian and Belarusian regimes against Western countries. including Latvia.

Illustrative image. Photo: Eddy Palen/LETA

The article is in Latvian

Tags: closed airspace Turkish airline Southwind Airlines controlled Russian company

-

NEXT Great Britain plans to deport 5,700 illegal immigrants to Rwanda this year / Diena