Ukraine’s SkyUp Airlines seeks ACMI deals for all 737s
SkyUp Airlines (PQ, Kyiv Boryspil) has offered all but one of its B737NG aircraft up for wet-lease as the airline remains grounded due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The PROD!fleets_module shows that SkyUp Airlines operates fifteen B737NGs in total, comprising two B737-700s, nine B737-800s, and four B737-900(ER)s. The carrier clarified that it is seeking ACMI contracts for all of them except for a single -800, UR-SQP (msn 33029), which remains at Kyiv Boryspil and is unable to fly out due to the closure of Ukrainian airspace amidst ongoing Russian bombardment.
All other aircraft are currently stored outside Ukraine. The four -900(ER)s have been undergoing scheduled maintenance at Tallinn Lennart Meri since November 2021 but are now available for operations. The remaining ten aircraft were parked abroad during February 2022, as lessors and insurers grew progressively concerned about the safety situation in Ukraine prior to Russia’s invasion. Flightradar24 ADS-B shows that the two -700s are currently parked at Iasi and Izmir airports, while seven -800s are at Iasi (two), Sharm el Sheikh (three), Belgrade, and Sofia (one each). The eighth unit of the type, UR-SQG (msn 30071), had been parked at Chisinau but is currently used for charter flights between the Moldovan capital and Tel Aviv Ben Gurion.
“By using our planes, you will help us continue our activities during the war and pay taxes to the state treasury, save 1,300 employees and support the affected Ukrainians – we will send every tenth dollar or euro to help the victims of the war,” the airline said in a statement.
SkyUp said that it was willing to lease the aircraft to any airline in the world which does not operate flights to Russia or Belarus.
“The overriding task for Ukrainian business is to continue operations because that is exactly what Ukraine needs now to ensure economic stability, create additional resources for our armed forces and support civilians affected by the fighting. That is why we, the Ukrainian airline SkyUp Airlines, appeal to the global aviation family to support us and Ukraine in this fight,” it added.
Ukrainian airspace has been closed to all civilian operations since the early hours of February 24, 2022, when Russia launched the invasion. Among the country’s largest carriers, only SkyUp and Bees Airline have all or nearly all of its fleet stored abroad. Ukraine International Airlines has a significant part of its fleet parked abroad, but some aircraft have remained in Ukraine, while Windrose Airlines has its entire fleet in Ukraine.