MOSCOW, March 30. The European Union has banned Antalya-based Southwind Airlines from flying within the bloc because of its “ties” with Russia, writes the Turkish publication Turizm Güncel.
As the article says, the EU announced the decision on Thursday, the legal basis was the sanctions regulations of July 2014, imposing sanctions against Russia due to the situation in Ukraine.
Turizm Güncel called the decision of the European Union “scandalous”.
The day before, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) reported an indefinite delay in the departure of a flight with Russian tourists to Moscow from Sharm el-Sheikh, the alleged reason being the EU ban on Southwind. ATOR clarified that on Thursday Brussels announced to EU member countries that Southwind Airlines (the official name of Cortex Aviation and Tourism Trade) was prohibited from taking off, flying and landing in Europe in accordance with sanctions regulations.
The association noted that flights from Turkey, where Southwind also flies from Russia, will not be affected in any way, “they will operate a little longer.”
On Monday, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom reported that it did not allow Southwind Airlines to operate flights to Finland because of its “connections with Russia».