MERKUR’S CASES: PARTICIPATION IN THREE CASES DECLARATION IS NOT AN INDULGENCE FROM NON-PAYMENTS
I have repeatedly said about this simple truth to the co-owner of MERKUR HOLDING, Halis Din. During the time that has passed since he signed the Three Cases Declaration in December 2022, cases against MERKUR and its subsidiary company JET ASSIST have been repeatedly created in the BLACKLIST.AERO Registry.
At first, I managed to convince Halis Din in our personal communication with him not to bring the matter to the publication of cases in the Registry. The main argument on my part is that the rules are the same for everyone, and I cannot turn a blind eye to Merkur’s non-payments. However, the fact that they are BLACKLIST.AERO's Three Cases Declaration partners forced me to use maximum diplomacy and unusual politeness (as in relation to defaulters) to convince Halis Din to pay his debts before a scandal arose.
In turn, Halis Din did not really believe that BLACKLIST.AERO would decide to take such a step, saying that we “have special relationships.” Every time he told me that he was paying the debt “only out of respect” for me. Well, later when after several failed promises of payment, one of the cases was published, I had the opportunity to find out what kind of “respect” he had in mind...
Perhaps the story of Merkur is worth writing a separate article about. The behavior of this defaulter is too illustrative. However, that is not the point as for now. It is much more important to make it clear to everyone once again and again - BLACKLIST.AERO does not have “good” and “bad” companies. There are those who respect other participants in the aviation market and those with whom we are fighting.
Therefore, I urge everyone not to consider the Three Cases Declaration as an opportunity to “befriend” with BLACKLIST.AERO in the hope that it will help avoid our actions in the case of non-payment. If you join the Declaration, please do so only if you sincerely share our principles.
After the third case against Merkur Holding and Jet Assist had been created in BLACKLIST.AERO, the Registry administration was forced to conduct a serious journalistic investigation. Much has been revealed - both about the state of the company and about its real owners.
Let’s just say for now that according to our information Merkur Holding’s debt to Istanbul Airport alone amounts to more than USD 2 million. The cases in BLACKLIST.AERO are just the tip of the iceberg of non-payments by this company.
In this regard, the administration of the BLACKLIST.AERO Registry urges NOT TO COOPERATE with all companies belonging to MERKUR HOLDING.
Artem Degtiarov, Chief editor at BLACKLIST.AERO
When a loved one requires urgent medical evacuation, families are often forced to act fast — emotionally and financially. In July 2024, one such family contracted EMS Air Ambulance & Medical Repatriation Ltd, a UK-based company offering bedside-to-bedside repatriation. What followed was not just a logistical failure — it was a masterclass in how carefully drafted contracts can trap vulnerable clients and make recovery of funds nearly impossible.
Another subsidiary of Avia Solutions Group—the Slovak ACMI operator AirExplore—will soon cease to exist as an independent company. BLACKLIST.AERO was informed of this by a source within the company.
Global Aviation Register of Defaulter companies BLACKLIST.AERO is now an officially registered trademark across the countries of the European Union. This week, the European Union Intellectual Property Office finally issued our long-awaited certificate!
The year 2025 turned out to be one of the most difficult for aviation as a whole. One can talk endlessly about the heavy legacy of the post-COVID era, which manifested itself in a global disruption of supply chains and, as a consequence, a shortage of new aircraft and spare parts, delays in maintenance, and so on. Added to this were geopolitical risks—at times it seems the whole world wants to fight more than to create. We are living through a turning point, where the old world order has already been completely destroyed, while the new one has not yet taken on any clear shape. Aviation, in this process, is a litmus test reflecting all of these dynamics.
