-
Airbus
- Stock Code:
- AIR
- Date Founded:
- 1970-12-18
- CEO:
- Guillaume Faury
- Headquarters Location:
- Toulouse, France
- Key Product Lines:
- Airbus A220, Airbus A320, Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Airbus A350, Airbus A380
- Business Type:
- Planemaker
When the Russian market was drastically reduced due to the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, neighboring countries saw an opportunity to capture the neglected passenger demand. In response, Pegas Tours helped launch an airline startup named Southwind Airlines, intending to bring more Russian tourists to Turkey. Southwind Airlines was due to begin operations in May with a five-aircraft fleet, but the airline startup only just started flying earlier this month.
Take-off from Turkey to Russia
Though the take-off was relatively delayed, Southwind Airlines has been busy serving chartered flights from Turkey to certain Russian cities. And instead of a five-aircraft fleet, the Antalya-based airline startup houses only three aircraft, one Airbus A321, slightly under nine years old, and two Airbus A330-200s, just below 11 years old. Although the airline startup launched with the Antalya-Ufa service on August 2nd, little is known about the route and its schedule, so let's take a look at the routes and services we do know.
Perm
Southwind Airlines started flying to Perm on August 12th, from Antalya Airport using its sole Airbus A321 registered as TC-GRD. After the estimated four-hour and thirty-minute flight, the inaugural flight took off from Antalya Airport at approximately 17:50 and landed at Perm International Airport at around 22:20.
Operating as STW 1825 from Antalya and STW 1826 from Perm, the route is scheduled for twice-weekly flight services on Tuesdays and Fridays, with the narrowbody a seemingly permanent aircraft selection. The Airbus A321 currently has a seating capacity of 220 passengers, enabling Southwind Airlines to offer approximately 880 seats weekly.
Novosibirsk
The following day on August 13th, the Turkish airline startup flew from Antalya to Novosibirsk, which took off at 06:19 and landed in the Russian city at 15:39. Southwind Airlines is scheduling the route for thrice-weekly flight services on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
Operating this route would be the airline's Airbus A330-200s, which have a seating capacity of 312 passengers in a single-class configuration. This enables Southwind Airlines to offer about 1,872 seats to Novosibirsk weekly.
A busy startup
Southwind Airlines has been making relative progress for an airline that only began flying a few weeks prior, as its route network also includes flying from Antalya to St. Petersburg, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, and Kazan. The latest in the airline's route network would be Georgia, as Southwind Airlines began operating chartered flights from Tbilisi International Airport to Antalya Airport.
Until September 25th, Southwind Airlines will operate the route on a once-weekly frequency every Sunday, using its Airbus A321 aircraft. However, the new airline startup is in for some heavy competition from fellow Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines, which serves frequent flights on the Tbilisi-Antalya route five times a week. Pegasus Airlines will further turn up the heat by adding another weekly flight in September.
Bottom line
Tourism has been one of Turkey's most dynamic and quickest-growing economic sectors, accounting for approximately 3.9% of Turkish Gross Domestic Product in 2019, and Russia is the top consumer of Turkish tourism among the total international arrivals and departures. Given the high-demand market, it makes sense to launch Southwind Airlines, and considering how broad its route network already is, the chance of survival for this new airline startup seems high. It would be curious to see down the line if Southwind Airlines will open up another base, perhaps in Istanbul Airport or Dalaman Airport.
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Source: Airways Magazine