Ukrainian airlines have set up a hub at Chisinau airport while Ukraine’s skies are closed
Ukrainian airlines have set up a hub at Chisinau airport and are operating flights on behalf of Moldovan airlines while Ukraine’s skies are closed to flights.
Five passenger planes of Ukrainian airlines SkyUp and Windrose are based at the capital’s airport.
“Windrose has deployed all two of its flying aircraft in Chisinau – a Boeing 737-800 with registration UR-PSF and a Boeing 737-900ER UR-PSI. They carry passengers of the Moldovan airline Flyone.
SkyUp has deployed three out of eight aircraft at Moldova’s capital airport. Currently, three Boeing 737-800s with the numbers UR-SQB, UR-SQC, UR-SQF are based in Chisinau. These aircraft operate flights on behalf of Flyone and HiSky airlines.
Chisinau also hosts another Boeing 737-800 with registration 9H-SAT of SkyUp MT, a SkyUp unit registered in Malta. It carries Flyone passengers.
All Ukrainian airliners in Moldova operate on wet lease terms. This is a type of aircraft lease in which the airline provides the customer with an aircraft along with crew and maintenance, for which it receives a fixed fee. At the same time, the commercial risks for ticket sales are borne by the flight customer.
This type of lease in the context of the flight ban in Ukraine allows Ukrainian airlines to continue their operations and maintain the qualifications of their flight personnel. In the future, they can quickly resume flights to Ukraine when it is deemed safe to do so.
