Freebird Airlines

An A320 taxis to the runway, its vertical stabilizer in a bold color – and the next Freebird Airbus already has a tail glowing in a completely different shade. With its changing tail colors, the Turkish leisure airline from Antalya is one of the most colorful visitors at German vacation airports. On top of that, there is a Maltese sister that flies under the same brand. On this page, you learn how to tell the two apart, what the fleet has to offer and where you are most likely to catch Freebird.

Freebird Airlines at a glance

Freebird Airlines is a Turkish leisure and charter airline. Officially the company is called Hürkuş Hava Yolu Taşımacılık ve Ticaret A.Ş., and its headquarters is in Istanbul. It was founded in 2000, and the first commercial flight took place on April 5, 2001. Behind the airline is Turkey’s Gözen Holding.

Freebird moved its flight operations to Antalya in 2013 – right where many vacationers from central and northern Europe arrive in summer. Other bases are in Bodrum and Dalaman on the Turkish Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. The business revolves around connections between Europe and these vacation regions, supplemented by destinations in the Middle East.

For a long time, Freebird was a pure charter airline: Tour operators bought entire aircraft or blocks of seats and sold the seats as part of package holidays. Since January 2022, Freebird has also offered its own scheduled flights. The post Charter flight vs. scheduled flight explains where exactly the difference lies. A third pillar is wet lease: Freebird leases aircraft with crew to other airlines that need capacity at short notice.

Freebird belongs to no alliance. That puts the airline in line with other Turkish leisure airlines such as Corendon Airlines or SunExpress.

From the MD-83 to the A320: a short history

Freebird started in 2001 with three McDonnell Douglas MD-83s – back then a typical charter aircraft that was widespread in Turkey and southern Europe. If you want to take another closer look at the slim rear-mounted engines of this generation, you will find them on the page about the MD-83. At Freebird, it has long been a thing of the past.

The airline valued certifications early on: In 2002, it became the first Turkish airline to receive an ISO 9001:2000 quality certification, and in 2006 it was the first Turkish charter airline to be listed in the IOSA registry, the safety audit program of the airline association IATA.

After that, Freebird switched its fleet to Airbus. For a while, Boeing 737-800s and Airbus A321s also flew for the airline; today the Airbus A320 is the only type. The key milestones at a glance:

Year	Event
2000	Freebird Airlines founded
2001	First commercial flight on April 5 with an MD-83
2002	First Turkish airline with ISO 9001:2000 certification
2006	First Turkish charter airline in the IOSA registry
2013	Main base moved to Antalya
2018/2019	Freebird Airlines Europe founded in Malta, operations from February 2019
2022	Own scheduled flights launched in January
2024	Special livery for the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye on TC-FHF

Codes and callsign

• IATA code FH: appears in the flight number, so on the departure board, on the ticket and in the airport’s flight schedule.
• ICAO code FHY: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on most flight trackers.
• Callsign FREEBIRD AIR: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio.

With Freebird, it pays to look at the ICAO code. When the Maltese sister operates, the tracker shows FHM instead of FHY, and on the radio it is “EUROBIRD.” How the two code systems relate is explained in the article on IATA and ICAO codes; the difference between flight number and callsign is covered in the post Callsign or flight number?.

Freebird Airlines Europe: the sister from Malta

In 2018, Freebird founded its own airline in Malta: Freebird Airlines Europe, based at Malta Airport. On February 20, 2019, it received an air operator certificate under EASA rules from the Maltese aviation authority and began operations. The reason is obvious: With an EU license, the company can operate charter flights within the European Union that are not readily possible for a Turkish airline – for example between two EU countries.

Malta is popular for such arrangements. Malta Air and Lauda Europe from the Ryanair Group are based there, too. Why so many aircraft are registered on the Mediterranean island is explained in the post on offshore registrations and leasing.

Feature	Freebird Airlines	Freebird Airlines Europe
Headquarters	Turkey	Malta
ICAO code	FHY	FHM
Callsign	FREEBIRD AIR	EUROBIRD
Registration	TC-	9H-
Air operator certificate	Turkish aviation authority	EASA, issued in Malta
Focus	Flights between Europe and Turkey, Middle East	Charter flights within the EU

From the outside, the two are hard to tell apart: same brand, same type, same design principle. You see the difference in the registration on the rear fuselage. If it says 9H-, you have a Freebird Europe Airbus in front of you. You can find more on country prefixes in the overview Country codes on aircraft.

The fleet: pure A320 family

The fleet is small and easy to follow. According to early-2026 fleet lists, 14 Airbus A320-200s fly for Freebird and Freebird Europe combined, each with 180 seats. The average age is around 15 to 16 years – so Freebird relies on used aircraft of the first A320 generation rather than new deliveries.

Type	Number (early 2026)	Seats	Spotter tip
Airbus A320-200 with wingtip fences	12	180	Small, triangular wingtips – the classic A320 look
Airbus A320-200 with Sharklets	2	180	Tall, curved wingtips – easily mistaken for a neo
McDonnell Douglas MD-83	historic	–	First fleet from 2001, rear-mounted engines
Boeing 737-800 / Airbus A321	historic	–	In service at times, no longer in the fleet today

Which aircraft are assigned to which company at any moment can change – aircraft move between the two registers, are leased out for a time or are newly added. Treat the numbers as a snapshot. The manufacturer of all current Freebird aircraft is Airbus.

Sharklets don’t mean neo

The two Freebird A320s with Sharklets are a classic trap. The tall wingtips are mostly known from the A320neo – but Airbus also fitted them to late first-generation A320s. Freebird flies not a single neo. How the different wingtips compare is shown in the post Recognizing winglets, Sharklets and more.

The guide A320neo or ceo? explains the differences in detail. And if you are not yet sure how to tell the A319, A320 and A321 apart, How to tell the A318 to A321 apart helps: You recognize the Freebird A320 there by the medium fuselage length with two emergency exits over the wing.

How to recognize Freebird

The base livery is simple, with the “freebird” titles on the fuselage. The special part is at the tail. Instead of a uniform design, every Freebird aircraft wears a solid-colored tail in its own color. On the apron, this makes the small fleet look more colorful than many bigger airlines – and you can often recognize individual aircraft by the color alone.

A highlight for collectors is TC-FHF: Since July 2024, this A320 has worn a special livery for the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye. One-offs like this do not fly on a fixed pattern but wherever the rotation sends them. You can find tips on how to hunt down special liveries in the post How to find special liveries.

Spotting Freebird in Germany

Germany is one of Freebird’s most important markets. Its focus airports include Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn and Berlin, plus other airports depending on the season as well as connections from Vienna and London. From there, flights go mainly to Antalya Airport and the Turkish Aegean coast.

What that means for you: Your best chances are in the summer half-year at airports with lots of Turkey connections. In Düsseldorf, the observation deck at Düsseldorf Airport is a good choice, in Cologne the observation deck at Cologne/Bonn Airport and in the capital the observation deck at BER. Leisure airline schedules do change from season to season, though – don’t rely on old spotter reports.

Before you set out, it pays to check the light: The guide to the sun position at the photo spot shows you where the sun will be at arrival time. With the sun position planner in Planetrack, you see right at the spot whether you will be shooting into the sun. If you are new to this, Plane spotting for beginners helps you get started. And anyone who wants to photograph Freebird directly in Antalya, Bodrum or Dalaman should read the post Photography at airports in Turkey first.

Freebird in the Turkish leisure market

Freebird is one of several Turkish leisure airlines you see at German airports. The comparison helps you sort them out right at the spot:

• SunExpress is much bigger and flies Boeing 737s.
• Corendon Airlines also relies on Boeing 737s.
• Southwind Airlines and Tailwind Airlines are among the smaller providers.
• Pegasus Airlines is a low-cost carrier with a much larger fleet and mostly younger aircraft.

From the past you may remember Onur Air, which also brought a lot of vacation traffic to Germany until 2021. Freebird stands out from the Boeing operators with its all-A320 fleet and its colorful tails.

Common mix-ups

• Assuming every Freebird is a Turkish airline – Freebird Airlines Europe is a Maltese company with 9H registrations and its own ICAO code FHM.
• Taking Sharklets as a neo feature – two Freebird A320s have Sharklets but are first-generation aircraft.
• Mixing up tail color with a new airline – at Freebird, the changing color is part of the design, not a sign of a different operator.
• Equating the FH flight number with the operating company – the ICAO code on the tracker shows whether FHY or FHM is operating.
• Thinking Freebird is a pure charter airline – there have been scheduled flights since 2022.

Conclusion

Freebird Airlines is a small but eye-catching leisure airline: an all-A320 fleet, a tail in every color and a sister airline in Malta. With only around 14 aircraft, the fleet is manageable enough to collect completely – provided you note the registration and ICAO code and don’t let Sharklets lure you into the neo trap.