Southwind Airlines

Southwind Airlines is one of the youngest airlines you can see at German holiday airports – and one with an especially eventful history. Founded in 2022 in Antalya, banned from EU airspace in spring 2024, restructured at the end of 2024 and flying to Germany again since March 2026. On top of that comes a fleet that is surprisingly varied for such a small airline: from the A321 to the densely seated Boeing 777. Here you’ll learn how to identify Southwind with confidence and what to look for when spotting it.

Southwind Airlines at a glance

Southwind Airlines is a Turkish leisure and charter airline headquartered in Antalya. The brand belongs to the company Cortex Havacılık ve Turizm Ticaret A.Ş., and the airline was founded in April 2022. Its home base is Antalya Airport, the gateway to the Turkish Riviera and one of the busiest holiday airports on the Mediterranean.

The founding came at a special time: after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a large share of the flight connections between Russia and Europe disappeared, and many Western leasing companies took their aircraft back from Russia. For the Turkish tourism industry, where Russian vacationers are one of the most important groups of guests, that was a problem. Southwind set out to serve exactly this traffic to Antalya – and soon built up charter chains into German-speaking countries as well.

Flight operations started in late summer 2022, initially with two Airbus A330s. From September 2022, charter flights to Germany were added. In 2023, Southwind announced leased Boeing 737 MAX 8s, and later the fleet grew to include Airbus A321s and Boeing 777s. Southwind is now also a member of IATA.

Codes and identifiers

• IATA code 2S: appears in the flight number, on departure boards and in the booking documents of tour operators.
• ICAO code STW: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on most flight trackers before the flight number.
• Registration TC-: All aircraft are registered in Turkey. Many Southwind aircraft carry registrations from the TC-GR… series, such as TC-GRB (A330-200), TC-GRJ (737 MAX 8), TC-GRY (777-300) or TC-GRZ (777-300ER).

The IATA code in particular tends to cause confusion: because 2S starts with a digit, it is sometimes overlooked on boards or mistaken for a typo. On flight trackers, STW is therefore the better search term.

The fleet: small airline, many types

Most leisure airlines rely on a single aircraft type to save on maintenance and crew training costs. Southwind takes a different approach. According to fleet databases, the fleet in early 2026 consisted of around 14 aircraft with an average age of about 14 years – spread across six variants from two manufacturers.

Type	Number (approx.)	Seats (approx.)	Spotter tip
Airbus A321-200	4	220	Older aircraft of the classic generation
Airbus A321neo	1	240	Only neo in the fleet, large engines
Airbus A330-200	2	around 350	The airline’s first aircraft
Boeing 737 MAX 8	3	189	Leased, serrated engine nacelles
Boeing 777-300	3	550	Extremely dense seating
Boeing 777-300ER	1	531	TC-GRZ with special livery

Some aircraft are parked at times. Treat the numbers as a snapshot as of early 2026, not as a fixed fleet. Young charter airlines in particular add aircraft through leasing quickly and drop them just as fast. You can read about what is behind such rental models in the article Wet lease explained.

The Airbus side: A321 and A330

The backbone for short- and medium-haul holiday flights is the Airbus A321. The older A321-200s are seated more densely than at many scheduled airlines, which is typical of charter traffic: lots of vacationers, short flights, no connecting traffic. With the A321neo, Southwind also has a modern example in its fleet – you can recognize it on approach by its much larger engines. If you’re unsure about the A320 family, the guide Telling the A318 to A321 apart with confidence helps.

The two Airbus A330-200s were the airline’s first aircraft. A widebody on holiday routes of just a few hours is unusual, but it makes sense when large groups of travelers are moved on few flights. You can tell the A330 from the four-engine A340 right away by its two engines – more on that in the article A330 or A340?.

The Boeing side: 737 MAX 8 and 777

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 joined the fleet through leasing. With 189 seats, it has the smallest cabin at Southwind. Typical of the MAX are the serrated trailing edges of the engine nacelles and the split-tip winglets.

The most exciting are the Boeing 777s. The 777-300s at Southwind are fitted with around 550 seats, making them some of the most densely seated 777s anywhere. There is also a 777-300ER with over 500 seats. Widebody jets like these are rare in holiday traffic. Both versions have the same long cabin. You recognize the 777-300ER by its raked wingtips, swept back and tapering to a point, and its even larger engines; the older 777-300 has shorter wings with blunter tips. You’ll find more tips in Telling the Boeing 777 and 787 apart.

Ban, change of ownership, return

Hardly any leisure airline has been through so much in so little time. The story matters to spotters because it explains why Southwind disappeared from Germany completely for a while.

The ban was based on the assessment of the Finnish transport authority Traficom: it concluded that the airline’s ownership and control are not in Turkey but linked to Russian actors. That would have made Southwind a way to get around the EU sanctions against Russian airlines. The EU based its ban on the Russia sanctions regulation, which prohibits Russian-controlled aviation companies from taking off, landing and overflying in the EU. Southwind rejected the allegations as unfair and announced legal action.

Media reports also speculated about links to Russia’s Nordwind Airlines, for example in crews and aircraft. There are no reliable official statements on this – the ban was officially justified by control by Russian actors in general. The change of ownership at the end of 2024 changed the situation, and the return to Europe followed in spring 2026.

Until the ban, Southwind had built up a dense charter program in German-speaking countries: it served Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart, among others, and Frankfurt and Zurich were also planned for summer 2024. All of these flights vanished overnight. Anyone who photographed Southwind in Germany back then now owns small pieces of history.

How to recognize Southwind

With such a young and mixed fleet, there is no single feature like Ryanair’s harp. The most reliable clues are therefore the data, not just the looks:

• Registration: A TC- on the tail shows the Turkish registration. Many Southwind aircraft carry registrations from the TC-GR… series.
• Titles: The name “Southwind” is written large on the fuselage. Watch the spelling – Southwest (USA) and Nordwind (Russia) sound similar but are different airlines.
• ICAO code: STW on the tracker confirms the match, even if the flight number looks unfamiliar.
• Origin: Almost all flights in Germany come from Antalya or fly there.
• Type mix: A 777 or A330 on a holiday route to Turkey is a good sign of Southwind.

One special case is the Boeing 777-300ER TC-GRZ: since December 2025 it has worn a special livery for the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission and is probably used mainly for pilgrim flights. Whether you’ll get it in front of your lens in Europe is an open question – but anyone who collects special liveries should know it. You’ll find tips on how to track down such motifs in Finding special liveries.

Southwind in the Turkish holiday market

Turkey is one of the most important vacation destinations for German travelers, and the supply of leisure airlines is correspondingly large. Southwind is a small player alongside established names. The biggest competition in Germany traffic comes from SunExpress, the joint venture of Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, and from Corendon Airlines. Smaller charter providers such as Freebird Airlines and Tailwind Airlines are added to that, while Pegasus Airlines as a low-cost carrier and Turkish Airlines as a network carrier fly mainly via Istanbul.

The difference from scheduled traffic matters for spotters: charter flights are mostly sold entirely to tour operators, schedules change from season to season, and individual rotations sometimes appear for only a few weeks. How the two models differ is explained in the article Charter flights and scheduled flights.

Spotting Southwind: in Germany and in Antalya

In Germany, Berlin Brandenburg has been the airport where Southwind returned since March 2026. The observation deck at Berlin Airport offers a good overview of the apron. Whether other former destinations such as Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich or Leipzig/Halle return to the schedule is something you should check anew for each season.

In Antalya, the chances are naturally best, because most rotations start and end there. Besides Southwind, in summer you see an enormous variety of leisure airlines from all over Europe there. Before you get your camera out in Turkey, though, be sure to read the notes on photographing at airports in Turkey – the rules there are stricter than in Germany.

Common mix-ups

• Confusing Southwind with Southwest – the US airline has nothing to do with the Turkish charter airline.
• Equating Southwind with Nordwind – Nordwind is a Russian airline; links have been reported, but they are different companies.
• Taking 2S for a typo – the IATA code really does start with a digit.
• Thinking every A321 is a neo – Southwind mostly flies older A321-200s, and only one aircraft is an A321neo.
• Mixing up the 777-300 and 777-300ER – the wingtips show you which version is in front of you.
• Using old schedules – after the ban and the return, the route network has changed fundamentally.

Conclusion

Southwind Airlines is small, young and anything but boring. The Turkish charter airline from Antalya flies a colorful mix of Airbus A321, A330, Boeing 737 MAX 8 and high-density 777s – and in just four years has been through an entire airline history, with an EU ban, a change of ownership and a return to Germany. If you note down the registration and ICAO code and keep an eye on the schedule, you have a good chance of a sighting that not everyone has in their logbook.