A Turkish charter and wet-lease operator headquartered in Istanbul, flying a Boeing 737 fleet on Mediterranean and European holiday charters and leasing aircraft with crew to airlines under ACMI. Cargo moves on demand in passenger bellies, and there is no scheduled route to China.
Chinese-language service provider: Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited We handle booking, customs clearance and end-to-end logistics for international air cargo, including routings from China to the United States and other major markets.
Tailwind Airlines (IATA two-letter codeTI, ICAO three-letter code:TWI) is a charter airline registered in Turkey, founded in 2006, headquartered in Istanbul, with main operating bases at Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW) and Antalya Airport (AYT) in the southern resort region. The full name is Tailwind Havayolları A.Ş., and it is a typical charter and wet-lease operator: it works with European tour operators on holiday charters between Turkey and European countries in peak season, and leases aircraft with crew to other airlines as ACMI capacity.
Unlike scheduled airlines, Tailwind Airlines publishes no fixed timetable; flights follow tour operator charter contracts or wet-lease customer needs, with destinations mainly Mediterranean resorts and European cities. Its routes have covered more than 40 destinations including Chișinău in Moldova, Rzeszów in Poland, Riga in Latvia, Moscow and Tyumen in Russia, Bologna in Italy and Barcelona in Spain, serving leisure travellers and tour operators. This flexible model makes it one of the active capacity providers in the European charter market.
In operating style, Tailwind Airlines follows a light-asset, scheduling-heavy path: steady charter contracts and wet-lease work support operations, wet-leased aircraft expand capacity in peak season, and the operation contracts in low season to control cost. The model is common in the competitive European leisure market and has given the airline a reputation with tour operators for fast response and flexible arrangements. For Chinese shippers, it is more accurate to treat the airline as capacity called on demand than as a fixed cargo route.
On cargo, Tailwind Airlines has no freighters, so goods can only move on demand in Boeing 737 passenger bellies, subject to the charter routing and spare capacity, and public cargo product information is very limited. The airline has no scheduled route to China and no own office there. For air freight between China and Turkey or Europe, carriers with scheduled China service such as Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways are the practical choice, or Goodhope Freight can assess charter feasibility. For China-US traffic, Goodhope Freight can arrange steady capacity on Delta, United and other mainline carriers.
| Airline | Tailwind Airlines |
| Company type | Charter / wet-lease airline (mainly passenger) |
| Country | Türkiye |
| Global headquarters | Istanbul |
| Operating base | Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (SAW), Antalya (AYT) |
| Founded | 2006 (first flight 2009) |
| IATA two-letter code | TI |
| ICAO three-letter code | TWI |
| Air waybill prefix | 768 (per public AWB prefix listings) |
| Official website | www.tailwind.com.tr |
| Fleet | Boeing 737-400 x5, 737-800 x2 (plus a wet-leased A321-200) |
| China services | No scheduled services and no China officeNone available |
737-400 and 737-800 bellies carry bulk cargo and mail, loaded as needed on charter flights and suited to small urgent shipments.
On a whole-aircraft charter, cabin space can also be used for special transport such as an ad hoc cargo charter, with capacity arranged by contract.
Aircraft with crew are leased to other airlines under ACMI, mainly moving capacity between European carriers and joining the cargo network indirectly.
Capacity is plentiful in the tourist peak and aircraft can be repositioned on demand in low season, making the airline a temporary capacity source for European routes.
Tailwind Airlines cargo capability rests on belly space and charters, and there is no scheduled route to China. Routine China-Turkey and China-Europe shipments need carriers with scheduled service and mature cargo products; Goodhope Freight compares scheduled capacity, charters and transit options against the cargo and transit requirement before quoting.
On loading characteristics, Boeing 737 belly volume is limited and mainly suits palletized small pieces, express and mail. On a whole-aircraft charter, if only cargo is needed without passengers, a seat-removal conversion can be assessed, but that requires the airline to evaluate airworthiness and cost conditions and is usually economic only for large high-value shipments. Overall, the Tailwind cargo channel is occasional and on demand rather than steady capacity, so every booking must be confirmed per shipment.
| Aircraft type | Number | Passenger capacity | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-400 | 5 aircraft | About 168 seats (all economy) | Charter workhorse on Mediterranean and European holiday routes |
| Boeing 737-800 | 2 aircraft | About 189 seats (all economy) | Introduced from 2023, adding charter capacity |
| Airbus A321-200 (wet lease) | 2 aircraft | — | Wet-leased from BBN Airlines Türkiye in peak season to add capacity |
| Boeing 737-400 | First flown in 1988, the stretched classic 737-300 |
| Passenger capacity | About 168 seats, all-economy layout |
| Range | About 4,000 km class, covering European routes |
| Boeing 737-800 | Next-generation 737 workhorse with better fuel efficiency |
| Passenger capacity | About 189 seats, all-economy layout |
| Fleet role | Short and medium-haul charters from the Antalya and Istanbul bases |
The Boeing 737-400 is the stretched model of the classic 737 family and, since entering service in 1988, has long been a fixture of the European charter market thanks to a mature maintenance system and moderate capacity. Tailwind Airlines flies 5 737-400s as the fleet backbone, each with about 168 all-economy seats, designed for high-volume tour operator charter traffic with dense seating and controllable operating cost, suited to frequent peak season flying on Mediterranean holiday routes.
The Boeing 737-800 is the main next-generation 737 model, with longer range, better fuel efficiency and a more comfortable cabin, and the 189-seat layout lifts per-aircraft capacity further. In July 2023 Tailwind Airlines took delivery of its first 737-800 and put it into service, marking the fleet's move from classic to next-generation types; in peak season the airline also wet-leases 2 Airbus A321-200 aircraft from Turkey's BBN Airlines. Every aircraft is a single-aisle short and medium-haul type, which sets the baseline of belly-only, limited cargo capability.
In market terms, Turkey is one of the world's largest leisure destinations, attracting large numbers of European tourists each year and giving charter airlines a steady demand base. From the Mediterranean holiday gateway of Antalya, Tailwind Airlines has built close cooperation with European tour operators, to the point of wet-leasing aircraft to cover peak season shortfalls. This demand-driven, seasonal pattern also means capacity is deployed around the European market rather than around cargo demand.
Tailwind Airlines currently has no scheduled route to China and no own office, with its network concentrated on the Mediterranean and the European charter market.
No scheduled China route and no China officeNone available. Cargo originating in China that might use Turkish charter capacity has to be confirmed per shipment with the airline or its partners by a forwarder, and the feasibility is limited.
No published fixed timetableCharter operation. Flights follow tour operator charter contracts and wet-lease demand, are clearly seasonal, and are dense in the summer peak.
Based at Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen and Antalya, serving the Mediterranean holiday market with charter routes to the southern Turkish coast, Greece, Eastern Europe and Central Europe.
Note: Tailwind Airlines has no scheduled route originating in China, so Chinese cargo cannot board its flights directly. Public sources show its charter routes mainly connect the following regions, which indicates the scope of its capacity:
Practical notes:For air freight from China to Turkey or Europe, scheduled service is more mature and reliable, for example Turkish Airlines via Istanbul, Qatar Airways via Doha or Emirates via Dubai; charter carriers such as Tailwind are better assessed as temporary peak season capacity. For China to the US, use trans-Pacific mainline carriers such as Delta and United, which Goodhope Freight can arrange as well.
Charters are not tied to a fixed timetable and aircraft can be repositioned to customer needs, providing temporary capacity on European routes in specific periods, most visibly in peak season.
Leasing aircraft with crew to other airlines brings mature ACMI experience, suited to business-to-business capacity allocation between carriers.
More than a decade in the southern Turkish and Mediterranean holiday market brings close familiarity with procedures at resort airports such as Antalya.
An all-Boeing 737 fleet brings common maintenance and mature systems, supporting charter dispatch reliability and operational stability.
Long-term cooperation with several European tour operators gives steady peak season charter demand and experience organizing charter programmes at scale.
Charter flight bellies can carry cargo as needed, suited to small urgent shipments moving along with the flight, subject to capacity confirmation per shipment.
These strengths sit mainly in passenger charters and capacity allocation between airlines; for Chinese shippers, Tailwind is not a routine cargo carrier. Goodhope Freight assesses it honestly and, where the capacity does not fit, recommends more mature scheduled or freighter options.
From a shipper's decision standpoint, assessing a charter airline like Tailwind comes down to three questions: whether the direction matches its charter routes, whether the timing fits the charter programme, and whether the volume makes charter cost economic. In most cases scheduled service and freighters remain the better choice; charter capacity has clear value only in specific situations where volume is large, timing is tight and the direction fits. The forwarder's value is checking those conditions one by one before deciding whether to use such special capacity.
| Official website | www.tailwind.com.tr |
| Head office address | TAILWIND HAVAYOLLARI A.Ş., Yeşilköy Mah. Atatürk Cad. DTM Sitesi A2 Blok No:10/395, 34149 Bakırköy, İstanbul, Türkiye |
| China contact | No office in ChinaNone available, contactable through the website or its European partners |
| Air waybill prefix | 768 (per public AWB prefix listings) |
One of Tailwind Airlines core businesses is leasing aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance as a package to other airlines, the industry-standard ACMI service. For airlines, wet lease is the fastest way to add capacity in peak season or trial a new route; for shippers it means Tailwind capacity may appear on a route as another airline's flight, and cargo space has to be obtained indirectly through the leasing carrier or a forwarder.
Holiday charters tied closely to European tour operators are the airline's steadiest business. Each summer the Antalya and Istanbul bases fly dense charter programmes to Central and Eastern Europe. Belly cargo on such flights is usually small, but a customer with an urgent small shipment that can ride a charter can have the spare belly assessed through a forwarder, which suits cargo with flexible timing and low volume.
A uniform Boeing 737 fleet means pilots, engineering and spares are highly consistent, crew allocation is flexible and maintenance cycles are controllable. That operating efficiency supports high charter dispatch reliability and has built a dependable reputation in the European charter market. For Chinese shippers, fleet commonality also means that even on a charter the 737 door and hold dimensions are standard, making loadability easier to assess in advance.
In the European market, charter airlines act as a peak season reservoir: they add capacity for airlines in the tourist peak and contract in low season to control cost. Understanding that rhythm matters: if a customer has a large one-off requirement toward Turkey, charter capacity is actually more plentiful in peak season, while year-round steady capacity calls for a scheduled carrier. Goodhope Freight can match either requirement.
The company has no scheduled route to China and no own office there; its network is concentrated on the Mediterranean and the European charter market, so Chinese cargo cannot move directly on its flights.
No. The fleet is entirely Boeing 737 passenger aircraft, plus a wet-leased A321, so cargo can only move on demand in passenger bellies, subject to the charter routing and spare capacity, and there is no published cargo product structure.
Prefer carriers with scheduled China service, such as Turkish Airlines via Istanbul, Qatar Airways via Doha or Emirates via Dubai, which offer steady schedules and mature cargo products; Tailwind suits only special-case charter assessment.
No. Its network does not extend across the Pacific; for China-US air freight use mainline carriers such as Delta and United, and Goodhope Freight can arrange the whole China-US job.
Mainly for whole-aircraft charters or large one-off shipments where the direction matches its charter routes or wet-lease network. A forwarder assesses feasibility, price and contract terms per shipment, and most routine cargo does not need charter capacity.
If the capacity is assessed as suitable, Goodhope Freight acts as booking agent and coordinates charter or belly space with the airline; after departure, track by air waybill number, prefix 768, on the airline website, and Goodhope Freight also updates status at loading, transfer and arrival.
Goodhope Freight updates status at key points: booking confirmation, aircraft positioning, loading and departure, transfer and arrival, clearance and delivery. A charter is one clear responsibility for the whole shipment, and Goodhope Freight provides node notifications and in-transit information on request.
Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited, based in Shenzhen, China, specializes in international air cargo to the US and major markets worldwide. It handles scheduled capacity on Turkish Airlines, assessment of special capacity from charter airlines such as Tailwind, and China-US trunk capacity, covering booking, declaration, carriage, clearance and delivery. Routing options and quotes are available on request.
Disclaimer:Prepared by Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited (Goodhope Freight). Airline names, codes and brand marks mentioned here belong to their respective owners, and our company has no affiliation, agency or investment relationship with the airlines described. The information is compiled from public sources for reference only and does not form a contract of carriage or a commitment. Space, rates and schedules are subject to actual confirmation by the carrier or its authorized agent at the time of booking.