As long as Ukraine’s skies are closed to civil aviation due to Russia’s war against Ukraine, it would seem that Ukrainian airlines are not operating. But, as avianews.com’s research has shown, some Ukrainian companies have reoriented themselves to the European market and are doing quite well.
The list of carriers flying in Europe and Asia includes SkyUp, Windrose, and Skyline Express, which was previously known as Azur Air Ukraine.
The publication has found out where, on what and how Ukrainian airlines are currently operating.
Skyline Express Airlines
Skyline Express flies with two Boeing 757-300 aircraft, which the airline received in 2023, after Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. These aircraft are registered in Ukraine under the numbers UR-SLB and UR-SLE and belong to a Turkish company.
The Boeing 757-300 Skyline Express flies from Polish airports to seaside resorts in Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria.
It is noteworthy that Boeing 757-300s with Ukrainian registration are the largest narrow-body aircraft currently operating from Poland. They can take on board up to 275 tourists. This capacity makes them ideal for transporting tourists along popular routes.
“Windrose” (Windrose)
“Windrose resumed active operations in 2023, but not on its own aircraft, but on airliners from the UIA fleet.
According to the State Register of Aircraft of Ukraine, three different types of aircraft have been transferred from UIA’s fleet to the Rosa Vetrova fleet: one Embraer 190 with the number UR-EMA, a Boeing 737-800 UR-PSF, and a Boeing 737-900ER UR-PSI.
Neither of the two carriers has commented publicly on the re-registration. Moreover, UIA itself stopped flying in the fall of 2022 due to a conflict between its shareholders, Aron Mayberg and Ihor Kolomoisky.
It is likely that the transfer of the aircraft is related to the fact that Ihor Kolomoisky has a greater influence on Wind Rose, and this allowed the idle aircraft to be used, which may also be related to the sphere of influence of this businessman.
The Embraer 190 UR-EMA flies under the call signs of Montenegro’s state-owned Air Montenegro from Tivat to European cities. The flights are operated by Ukrainian pilots and flight attendants.
The Boeing 737-800 UR-PSF operates flights between European cities and Egypt on behalf of FlyEgypt.
In early September, the Boeing 737-900ER UR-PSI carried passengers between France and Tunisia on behalf of the Tunisian airline Nouvelair. Then he began flying between Tel Aviv and Chisinau when the Hasidic pilgrimage season to Uman began.
SkyUp
SkyUp is currently the largest Ukrainian airline in terms of fleet size and operates nine aircraft at once.
The air carrier operates two Boeing 737-700 aircraft with registrations UR-SQD, UR-SQE and seven Boeing 737-800 aircraft with registrations UR-SQB, UR-SQC, UR-SQF, UR-SQG, UR-SQO, UR UR-SQQ.
SkyUp has diversified its operations as much as possible by cooperating with various airlines and operating flights under its own call signs.
In September 2023, SkyUp operated charter flights with Turkish Tailwind Airlines, Dutch Corendon Dutch Airlines, Moldovan HiSky, and Egyptian FlyEgypt, transporting tourists from European cities to resorts in Europe, Turkey, and Egypt.
SkyUp also operated regular flights on behalf of Tunisia’s national airline Tunisair and carried passengers on regular flights of the Moldovan airline Flyone from Chisinau.
Under its own call signs, SkyUp flew between Tel Aviv and Chisinau. This route is used by Hasidic pilgrims to visit Uman.
Officially, SkyUp’s fleet includes two more Boeing 737-800s with registrations UR-SQA and UR-SQH. In the spring of 2023, they worked in Sudan. During the clashes between the Sudanese army and special response forces at Khartoum airport, one Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 completely burned down, and the condition of the other is still unknown. SkyUp announced that it has managed to withdraw all its staff from Sudan.
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In preparing this material, we analyzed the activities of airlines that carry out systematic passenger transportation and did not take into account the activities of transport aviation. Antonov’s subsidiary, Antonov Airlines, operates five An-124 Ruslan heavy transport aircraft that were in Europe at the time of the Russian invasion of Antonov’s air base in Gostomel. Antonov made its European base in Leipzig, Germany, the main base for its fleet.
