According to the head of flight safety at Southwind Airlines, the company has no connections to Russia.
The flight safety manager of Southwind Airlines, which made headlines during the Christmas week Safa Oruç responds by email to Yelle Saksalaislehti Bild’s claims about the company’s connections to Russia.
The background of Southwind Airlines came into public discussion when Bild reports Russia is trying to transport migrants to the borders of the EU through the airline it founded in Turkey.
According to Oruç, Southwind Airlines is not involved in any criminal activity. He says that the company is registered in Turkey and is owned by a Turkish citizen.
– No one in Southwind’s management is Russian. All Southwind aircraft are registered in Turkey, Oruç writes.
According to Bild’s information, the company’s equipment and personnel largely come from the Russian Nordwind Airlines, whose planes are prohibited from using the airspace of Western countries. With the help of a new airline established in Turkey, these Russian planes can fly to Minsk in EU airspace instead of going around via Russia.
No contact with Pegas Touristik, says the head of flight safety
According to Bild, the Russian Nordwind Airlines is owned by the Pegas Touristik company, whose owners are Russians with roots in Turkey.
– Southwind Airlines is owned by a Turkish citizen and is not a subsidiary, partner or directly or indirectly controlled by the Russian company Pegas Touristik. None of Southwind’s board members or other managers are managers of the Russian Pegas Touristik. Southwind does not have contractual relations with the Russian Pegas Touristik, Oruç answers.
He says Southwind Airlines planes are leased from the United States, Japan and Turkey. According to Oruç, three of the company’s 12 planes have previously operated in Russia.
– Southwind Airlines operates in full compliance with US, EU and UK export regulations. Southwind Airlines flies scheduled flights to Belarus, and no Southwind plane flying to Belarus is under the control or order of any Belarusian or Russian company or citizen, Oruç says.
According to Southwind Airlines’ website, the company is scheduled to start flights to Finland in April. If an attempt is made to fly to Finland with the planes of a company suspected to be a Russian front company, the Finnish authorities will exercise special caution, says the CEO Jarkko Saarimäki Transport and Communications Agency Traficom.