On the night of April 4th, several users reported that a Boeing 737 was leaving Ukrainian airspace, which is currently closed to civil traffic due to the Russian invasion.
The aircraft in question is a Boeing 737-800 with registration UR-SQP, owned by the low-cost carrier SkyUp, stranded for over a year in Kiev. The plane attempted to be evacuated from Kiev as the conflict escalated, but on the night of February 24th, 2022, while climbing towards Chisinau, Moldova, the Boeing 737 had to return due to the danger of the moment.
Now, a year and two months later, the airline successfully managed to evacuate the UR-SQP. According to the Ukrainian media outlet Avianews, the Boeing 737 left «stealthily» from Kiev-Boryspil Airport, where many other aircraft are still stranded. To avoid suspicion, it did not turn on its transponder for most of the journey until it crossed the border. Its final destination was Iasi, Romania.
A Sky Up spokesperson confirmed the rescue of UR-SQP to Aviacionline.
Complex situation in Ukraine to evacuate airplanes
In an interview with a Ukrainian media outlet, SkyUp CEO Dmytro Seroukhov said that the evacuation of the Boeing was hindered by the lack of insurance coverage and Ukraine’s defense systems, where Russia fires missiles daily.
Avianews reported that, so far, only two additional civilian planes have been evacuated: in April 2022, a Windrose ATR 72 flew from Lviv and, in September, Wizz Air flew an Airbus A320. On the other hand, Turkey also managed to rescue its two Airbus A400s stranded in Kiev-Boryspil in December 2022.
However, dozens of planes are still trapped in various airports in Ukraine, including models such as Boeing 737, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Airbus A320, A321, Embraer 190, MD83, ERJ 145, ATR 42/72, Antonov 145/158, and Saab 340 from different airlines such as Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), Wizz Air, Windrose, and Azur Air, among others.
See Also: Ukraine: SkyUp Airlines’ Reinvention After the Russian Invasion as an Example of Resilience
SkyUp Continues Flying Despite Not Being in Ukraine
SkyUp continues flying, but outside of Ukraine, with other types of operations. They are currently active as a provider of charter flights and crewed aircraft lease (ACMI) for various European companies.
In 2022, the company transported more than one million passengers under lease contracts with other airlines, in addition to charter flights for tour operators in Moldova and the Baltic countries, state and non-state specialized organizations, charitable foundations, etc.
See Also: Wizz Air leases a 737-700 from Ukrainian SkyUp
Their fleet consists of ten Boeing 737-800s and two Boeing 737-700s. During the summer of 2022, they opened a maintenance line in Antalya (Turkey) and Tallinn (Estonia).
Part of their revenue is redirected to the government of Ukraine to cover the costs of the war. In turn, 53 of their more than 1,200 employees joined the Ukrainian Air Force. They also continue to perform evacuation and humanitarian flights for the country.
