The European Union has banned Antalya-based Southwind Airlines from flying within the bloc because of its connections to Russia.
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The EU declared the decision on Thursday, based on the sanctions regulation of July 2014, which imposed sanctions on Russia due to the situation in Ukraine.
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Turizm Güncel criticized the EU decision as “scandalous.”
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The day before, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) announced 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 states 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.
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The association noted that this will not affect flights from Turkey, where Southwind also flies from Russia, “they will take a little longer.”
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On Monday, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom reported that it had not allowed Southwind Airlines to operate flights to Finland due to its “ties with Russia.”
