SKY UP / A321NEO / 9H-PEB

Ton Jochems
 

HYBRID c/s - Air Albania (Skyup Airlines) / B737-82R / UR-SQO

Photo: Christian Tondo
 

Wizz Air Hungary has acquired three B737-800s from SkyUp Airlines (Ukraine) on wet lease for 12 months.

 One will be based at Chopin and two at Bucharest.

Photos - Ton Jochems

SkyUp Airlines (Ukraine) will operate charter flights from Bucharest, Cluj Napoca, Iasi, Timisoara and Suceava in summer 2023 season to Egypt, Spain, Greece, Tunis, Turkey and Portugal, on behalf of a tour operator.

Aviator Daily News
Photo: Ton Jochems - AYT

 

SkyUp Airlines obtains UK TCO

Photo: Ton Jochems - AYT - UR-SQA

SkyUp Airlines (PQ, Kyiv Boryspil) has obtained a United Kingdom Third Country Operator (TCO) permit, allowing it to broaden its operations to the UK.

The Ukrainian carrier transitioned to a fully-fledged ACMI/charter specialist for a variety of European customers after its core Ukrainian operations were interrupted by the Russian invasion of the country. Most of SkyUp's fleet was evacuated from Ukraine ahead of the closure of the country's airspace. The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows it currently operates two B737-700s and ten B737-800s (one of which is stranded at Kyiv Boryspil airport).

The airline is in the process of obtaining a new AOC via SkyUp Malta (SEU, Malta Int'l) to operate more easily in the European Union and beyond. It hopes to obtain the new permit in late 2022 or early 2023. The Ukrainian AOC, besides the newly obtained UK TCO, has also been authorised as a Third Country Operator by the European Union and Switzerland.

ch-aviation

All-Boeing fleet of Ukraine’s SkyUp reaches 10 aircraft

SkyUp doubled the number of its Boeing 737NGs to 10 aircraft this year (SkyUp)

Ukrainian airline SkyUp has taken delivery of another Boeing 737NG, its final addition for this year. The latest Boeing 737-900ER arrived at the airline’s Kyiv Boryspil base on December 12.

By doubling the number of its Boeing 737NGs to 10 aircraft, the start-up hybrid-model carrier has thus completed its 2019 fleet expansion plan and now operates two Boeing 737-700s, two -900ERs and six -800s.

The latest addition, a 2008-produced CFM56-7B-powered B737-900ER, with registration UR-SQJ (MSN 35225), is the largest and longest-range aircraft in SkyUp’s fleet and was previously operated by the now defunct Indian carrier Jet Airways. Prior to changing hands, the aircraft’s cabin was configured with 215 passenger seats, it received a new paint scheme and was retrofitted with Split Scimitar winglets. The Ukrainian airline has installed winglets on all of its aircraft to help it reduce fuel burn costs, increase range. All its aircraft also feature new passenger seats, and these are due to be installed on UR-SQJ early next year.

The fleet plan for 2020 is to bring the number of aircraft up to 14, by adding two new Boeing 737 MAX-8s and two used Boeing 737-900ERs.

In November 2019, SkyUp Airlines carried 173,209 passengers on 1,105 flights, of which 553 were scheduled and 532 charters. In the first 11 months of this year a total of 1.54 million passengers chose the Ukrainian airline for their travel needs.

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SKYUP - B737-700W - UR-SQD

FPP - Faro

Ukraine’s SkyUp outlines its fleet plans for 2018

SkyUp is Ukraine’s first airline to sign a sponsorship contract with a national football club. On June 19 it became the official carrier of FC Shakhtar, and sported a dedicated livery (Kyiv Igor Sikorsky Airport)

Fledgling Ukrainian carrier SkyUp Airlines has detailed its fleet plans for this year with the announcement that it intends to operate four medium-haul, narrow-body Boeing 737NGs along with two long-haul wide-body Аirbus A330s by end of 2018.

The airline, which received its Air Operator’s Certificate as recently as May 2018, started off with two five-year-old Boeing 737-800s, operating under tail numbers UR-SQA and UR-SQB. It is taking delivery of a Boeing 737-700 in July, and expects the arrival of another narrow-body of the type before the end of the year, the carrier says.

Earlier this year, Eugeny Khainatsky, the airline’s general director, told Russian Aviation Insider that the airline prefers to “keep its fleet uniform.” However, in addition to Boeings, SkyUp currently wet-leases an Airbus A330-200 from Egyptian carrier Air Leisure and plans to add another “soon”. This makes SkyUp the third operator of wide-body aircraft in the country after Ukraine International Airlines and Azur Air Ukraine. The airline meanwhile has specified that it is not planning to set up its own dry-lease operations of wide-body aircraft within the next two or three years.

“With the two wet-leased aircraft and the dry-leased fleet, SkyUp will completely satisfy the needs of the travel agency Join Up!” the airline said, in reference to its strategic business partner, one of the major tour operators in Ukraine.

The carrier was the brainchild of Yuri and Tetyana Alba, owners of Join Up! Its chief executive Khainatsky previously worked for Ukrainian airlines AeroSvit and Air Onix – and the airline now operates services to Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Albania, Georgia and Montenegro.

In 2019 SkyUp is looking to acquire three or four additional Boeing aircraft. It is also the first east European customer of the Boeing 737MAX-10, the largest of the re-engined aircraft family. It has three of the type and additionally two Boeing 737MAX-8s on order, with deliveries scheduled to commence in 2023.

SkyUp is based at Kyiv International Igor Sikorsky Airport (formerly named Zhulyany).