SkyUp Airlines

SkyUp is a Ukrainian airline brand that mixes charter, low-cost scheduled flying and aircraft leasing. SkyUp Airlines LLC is registered in Kyiv and holds the PQ code. Ukrainian airspace has been closed to civil flights since 24 February 2022, so as of October 2026 SkyUp's scheduled passenger flights run from outside Ukraine, mainly from Chișinău in Moldova.

Three airlines, one brand

In a release dated 1 May 2026, SkyUp said flights under its brand are operated by three carriers: SkyUp Airlines LLC (PQ) in Ukraine; SkyUp MT Limited (U5) in Malta, which holds an EU operating certificate and has flown since 2023; and SKY UP NISTRU (4V) in Moldova, a partner airline formerly called Vision Air that had just received an updated certificate under its new name. In practice, many of the Chișinău flights carry the 4V code; SkyUp's October 2026 route announcement describes them as operated by "SkyUp (4V)".

History

SkyUp was registered in Kyiv in 2016 and announced in December 2017 as a new private Ukrainian airline. Its main shareholders were linked to the tour operator Join UP!, which was expected to fill charter seats for package holidays. The first flight, from Kyiv Zhuliany to Sharm El Sheikh, ran on 21 May 2018, and the airline moved its main base to Kyiv Boryspil in 2019. In 2021 it carried 2,546,899 passengers, according to Wikipedia. When Ukrainian airspace closed in February 2022, SkyUp cancelled its flights and turned to wet leasing, that is, flying its aircraft and crews for other airlines.

Where it flies

SkyUp says it has run scheduled services from Moldova, Romania and Poland since April 2025. Its summer 2027 programme from Chișinău, published on 17 August 2026, lists 26 destinations in 11 countries, adding first-time routes to Vienna, Milan Bergamo, Croatian resorts, Batumi, Tbilisi, Düsseldorf, Nuremberg, Rhodes and Paris. On 6 October 2026 it added two more routes:

• Chișinău–Dubai, three times a week from 20 December 2026 to 28 March 2027.
• Chișinău–London Stansted, twice a week from 26 March 2027, making 27 routes in 12 countries for summer 2027.

SkyUp also sells ACMI and charter flying, and says it carried over 3 million passengers and operated nearly 20,000 flights across its brand in 2025, according to its own internal statistics.

Fleet

SkyUp flies Boeing 737s. Wikipedia lists the aircraft registered to the Ukrainian company separately from those of SkyUp MT and SKY UP NISTRU, and notes that the Ukrainian company retired its last 737-700 in May 2026, while one remains with the Moldovan partner. Because aircraft are spread across three certificates and some are leased out, no single fleet total is given here.