This week saw Ukrainian carrier SkyUp Airlines evacuate one of its aircraft from Kyiv’s Boryspil International Airport.
About UR-SQP…
The aircraft in question was UR-SQP, one of the carrier’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
As per data from Planespotters.net, the aircraft started out life with Ajet in May 2006 before heading over to XL Airways UK in December 2006.
From there, it headed over to Nok Air in November 2007 on lease from the UK carrier before returning in April 2008.
By September 2008, it was returned from lease back to CIT Leasing Corporation and didn’t stay with the lessor long as Sunwing Airlines started operating the aircraft in November 2008.
In May 2009, the SkyUp Airlines Boeing 737-800 was then handed over to Viking Airlines and remained for the Summer until its return to Sunwing occurred. This happened again in May and August 2010.
The aircraft remained with Sunwing Airlines, Smartwings, and TUI Airlines Netherlands until it was handed over to Flybondi in June 2018.
From there, it was returned to a new lessor, Avolon, in June 2020 and remained until SkyUp Airlines took delivery in August 2021.
The evacuation of the aircraft from Kyiv saw it now being stored in Iasi, Romania, until further notice whilst the continued war in Ukraine progresses.
SkyUp CEO: Utilization of Evacuation…
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Commenting on the evacuation of the aircraft was Dmytro Syeroukhov, the CEO of SkyUp Airlines:
“Since the first day of the full-scale invasion, SkyUp has been committed to helping Ukraine defend itself.”
“We are convinced that being useful to our country is the only possible approach for a responsible business.”
“Last year, we operated a number of evacuation and humanitarian flights”.
“Our cooperation with the state continues, and our planes will provide flights in the interests of Ukraine.”
Kyiv Evacuation Important For Continued Evacuation Strategy…
The evacuation of this aircraft out of Kyiv means that SkyUp Airlines can now add another aircraft to its roster of charter, humanitarian, evacuation, and special flights.
In 2022, the carrier performed 7,713 flights, which handled more than 1.08 million passengers.
Noting its level of support to the Ukrainian government out of Kyiv as well, SkyUp Airlines were keen to note that they have transferred almost UAH 100 million in taxes to the state budget.
In the pretext of the Ukraine Conflict, it is money that can be used to fight off Russian forces that are invading the country.
It remains clear that the carrier has had to adapt quickly and significantly in order to remain afloat over the course of this conflict.
All eyes will be on the carrier to see what more it can do, not just to help those in Ukraine but also how it can help the rest of the European aviation industry, especially with the busy upcoming Summer season ahead.
