At the end of March, Russian tourists who were planning to return from Sharm el-Sheikh to Moscow on flight SM 903 got stuck in Egypt. The Russians were supposed to be transported by plane of the Turkish charter airline Southwind Airlines, but they were prevented from returning home from the resort by the authorities of… Finland. How could this happen?
“Connected with Russian players”
The cancellation of the flight occurred as a result of an investigation by the Finnish transport authority Traficom. Suomi found out that Southwind Airlines is actually not Turkish, but Russian. At least, it is controlled from the Russian Federation, Finland concluded.
“Our overall assessment shows that a significant share of ownership and actual control do not belong to the specified Turkish individuals or companies. We have come to the conclusion that the airline and its control are connected with Russian players,” he quotes aerotelegraph.com the head of the Traficom Transport Department, Jarkko Saarimaki.
Following the investigation, Finland banned the carrier from operating flights between Helsinki and Antalya. Next, the same decision was made in Brussels — for the entire territory of the European Union. Cortex Havacilik Ve Turizm Ticare (this is its full official name) has been sanctioned, which prohibits its aircraft from flying over any EU country. Thus, scheduled flights to German cities and Greek Heraklion have been canceled.
Earlier, the German newspaper Bild cited the opinion of the Polish authorities that Southwind Airlines was created by Russia to worsen the migration crisis in Europe. The publication drew attention to the fast Istanbul — Minsk flights with tickets for 195 euros, which are potentially convenient for migrants who plan to move to EU countries across the Belarusian-Polish border.
What will happen to tours from Russia to Turkey and Egypt
Immediately after the ban on flying over Europe, the planes changed course: now they are returning from Antalya and Sharm el-Sheikh over the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan and the Volga region. Just as Sochi— Moscow planes have been flying for two years now after the skies over the southern regions were closed due to the military special operation in Ukraine.
Passengers on some flights from Russia had to be transported from Sheremetyevo to Vnukovo in the last days of March in order to be transported to the resorts on flights of another charter airline. Summer tourist flights from Kaliningrad were canceled, those who bought vouchers were offered to go south by other routes through Moscow and St. Petersburg or return the money. Meanwhile, Southwind Airlines canceled flights between Minsk and Istanbul.
According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, flights between Russia and Turkey will not be affected by the new ban: planes will continue to fly bypassing the airspace of the European Union and the CBO zone.
If you have bought a tour with this airline, contact your travel agent for details.
Earlier Vokrugsveta.ru He told me who benefited from the sanctions against Russian airlines and why.
Materials from ATOR, Izvestia, and the telegram channel “Roof of the Tourist House” were used.
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