More than six months have passed since 24 February when Russian troops invaded Ukraine in an act condemned by much of the international community and which brought in response a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, while a cataract of sanctions fell on Russia with the aim, so far unfulfilled, of forcing a cessation of hostilities.
Ukrainian commercial aviation, already hard hit by the pandemic, thus faced a new challenge.
In this context, low-cost carrier SkyUp has shared information on the current situation of the company, which suspended its regular operations on 24 February when Ukrainian airspace was closed to civilian traffic.
«The primary efforts of business now are focused on supporting the economy of Ukraine and preserving workplaces. Despite significant operational difficulties caused by the war, SkyUp keeps standing and continues to operate,» they said, noting that around 80 per cent of employees are partially or fully employed.
In the first months of the war, SkyUp carried out humanitarian tasks such as 21 evacuation flights on the Chisinau – Tel Aviv route, transporting 2,835 refugees. They also transported around 112 tonnes of humanitarian cargo such as medicines, baby food, household chemicals, blankets and diapers, among others. These items were distributed to refugee centres in Moldova and several Ukrainian cities.
The company was also involved in organising, together with the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Shaktar Football Club, a series of charity matches that raised UAH 13.2 million (~USD 320,000) to purchase 750 protective helmets, 1,500 first aid kits and other necessary items for soldiers and citizens affected by the war.
Key to SkyUp’s survival has been offering to lease its aircraft and crews to the international community. Since February, they said, they have entered into wet leasing contracts with nine companies, five of which are still operating. In total, the low-cost fleet operated 4,219 flights carrying 619,527 passengers to 227 destinations.
As can be seen in the ch-aviation database, there are three Boeing 737-800s operating for Corendon Airlines, two for Wizz Air, two for Smartwings, and one each for Tailwind Airlines and Freebird Airlines.
«We pay special attention to flight safety. In 2022, SAFA inspectors carried out 22 inspections of SkyUp Airlines flights at various airports,» the airline reported.
«The SAFA coefficient is a system for evaluating the level of safety of foreign aircraft flights in the range from «0» to «1». The closer the airline is to the «0» indicator, the higher its level of security is. Today, SkyUp’s rating of the SAFA indicator is 0.3, which means a high level of compliance with standards and ensuring flight safety,» they continued.
SkyUp also obtained certification of compliance with Swiss aviation safety standards, opening up new possibilities for its business.
As a sign of its successful reinvention in difficult times, SkyUp took back a Boeing 737-800 (registration UR-SQM) in August, bringing the current fleet to ten Boeing 737-800s and two Boeing 737-700s. To service its aircraft, SkyUp established a line maintenance base in the Turkish city of Antalya employing 41 employees. Its aircraft can operate anywhere in the world with the exception of the Russian Federation, Belarus and territories where hostilities are taking place.
The low-cost carrier is already planning its operation for the upcoming winter and summer seasons, looking to partner with tour operators in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Baltic countries.
«By using our planes, you will help hundreds of Ukrainians who work in our team and their families, and also provide additional support to Ukraine which is currently fighting for democratic values,» SkyUp added, inviting interested parties to visit skyup.aero/uk/wet-lease for more information.
«SkyUp Airlines continues to work and, together with all Ukrainians, moves the country forward — to victory. Let’s create a new history together. Glory to Ukraine!» they concluded.
SkyUp’s network
Until January 2022, prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, SkyUp’s network covered three cities in Ukraine (Kyev, Odessa and Lviv) and 19 cities abroad: Alicante, Barcelona, Batumi, Paris-Beauvais, Dubai, Yerevan, Funchal, Istanbul, Lodz, Lisbon, Madrid, Nice, Prague, Tbilisi, Larnaca, Almaty, Ras al-Khaimah, Tenerife-Reina Sofia and Tel Aviv.
According to data obtained by Aviacionline via Cirium, SkyUp had a weekly offer of 17,766 seats on 94 weekly operations. This represented 79% of the capacity it offered in January 2020, prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, although due to variations in its network, in terms of seat kilometres offered (ASK), capacity had recovered by 9.3%.
By the 2022 summer season SkyUp planned to launch more than 50 new routes to reach 31 cities, as it can be seen in this map published by the low-cost earlier this year.
In 2021, the low-cost carrier had carried 2,546,899 passengers and 786.5 tonnes of cargo on 15,962 flights, almost doubling 2020 numbers.
