EU court denies appeal of Türkiye's Southwind against ban

The General Court of the European Union has dismissed an appeal from Southwind Airlines (2S, Antalya) against the ban on its operations in the bloc's airspace, arguing that the decision was taken at a member-state rather than European level.

The Turkish leisure specialist filed for interim measures to suspend the ban, which it argued was imposed by the European Commission on March 29. However, the court ruled that the Commission's email to Southwind, while it stated the ban was in place and provided justification, was not a legal decision. The judge argued that the exchange of emails between the Brussels regulator and the airline proved, "at most, the existence of contact between the applicant and the Commission's internal department responsible for monitoring air transport issues." Consequently, there is no EU decision that can be challenged in the General Court.

The judge reiterated that the responsibilities for awarding and removing EU Third Country Operator (TCO) status lie primarily with the national authorities, while the Commission's role is limited to "gathering and disseminating information enabling the list of authorised aircraft to be drawn up, on the basis of the decisions of the competent national authorities."

Indeed, the EU-wide ban and removal of Southwind Airlines' TCO authorisation were sparked by a March 25 decision by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom). The regulator denied traffic rights to the Turkish carrier, arguing that it was not effectively controlled by Turkish nationals but was simply a front to bypass sanctions on Russian operators.

The EU courts have no competency to adjudicate on decisions taken by member states unless they pertain specifically to EU law.

Southwind Airlines did not respond to ch-aviation's request for comment on whether it would challenge the ban on a national level.

The Turkish airline has maintained it is locally owned and managed, but it has been linked to Pegas Touristik, a Russian tour operator that owns Nordwind Airlines. Southwind Airlines was launched in 2022, shortly after the EU sanctioned the Russian aviation industry. The airline's current network is exclusively focused on connecting Antalya with Russia, although it also served the Türkiye-EU market before March 2024.