Finnish authorities to exercise special caution on Southwind Airlines, says boss of Traficom

By admin On Dec 26, 2023

A file photo shows an aircraft approaching Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport in Munich, Germany, in November 2021. German tabloid Bild has raised questions about the backgrounds of the purportedly Turkish airline Southwind, reporting that the airline was set up by Russian nationals to ferry migrants to the borders of the EU. (Christof Stache – Lehtikuva)

AUTHORITIES in Finland will exercise special caution if an aircraft of Southwind Airlines requests permission to enter Finland, Jarkko Saarimäki, the director general of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom), stated to YLE on Sunday.

Questions about the backgrounds of the purportedly Turkish charter airline were raised recently in an investigative report by Bild, one of the leading tabloid newspapers in Germany.

Bild on Friday reported that the airline was established by Russian nationals and has leased most of its staff and fleet from Nordwind Airlines, a Russian airline that is prohibited from entering the airspace of the EU. The newspaper also wrote that the airline was set up to carry migrants to the external borders of the 27-country bloc via Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

Safa Oruç, the director of aviation safety at Southwind Airlines, on Monday stated to YLE in an e-mail that the airline is not involved in any criminal activity, that the airline and its aircraft are registered in Turkey and that the airline is owned by a Turkish national.

“Not a single member of Southwind’s management is Russian,” added Oruç.

Oruç told YLE that Southwind Airlines has leased its aircraft from Japan, Turkey and the US. Three of its 12 aircraft have previously operated in Russia.

Saarimäki from Traficom stated to the public broadcasting company a day earlier that the airline has enquired about the possibility to use Helsinki Airport as a diversion airport for flights to St. Petersburg.

“We’ve reminded them of the sanctions policies that are in place in Europe,” he said. “We haven’t been able to verify the information published by Bild. If Southwind Airline’s aircraft are used to enter the country, we’d in any case have to open a broader formal investigation into the backgrounds of the company [operating the aircraft].

Southwind Airlines states on its website that is has prepared to commence flights between Turkey and Helsinki in April 2024. The airline would likely be denied an operating permit if the reports about its backgrounds prove accurate, Saarimäki outlined in an earlier interview with STT.

Finavia has confirmed that an aircraft of the airline was in Finland in August. The aircraft had been leased by another Turkish carrier for a flight between Istanbul and Helsinki.

Russia has been accused of using migrants as a means to apply pressure on western countries that have imposed sanctions on it over its ongoing war of aggression in Ukraine. The Finnish Ministry of the Interior has reported that Russian authorities have encouraged people to cross the land border into Finland to put a strain on the asylum system in Finland.

Aleksi Teivainen – HT

Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi