How 3 Ukrainian airlines are still flying despite the ban on civilian flights due to war

• Only a handful of Ukrainian passenger airlines are still flying despite the Russian invasion.
• The planes are not flying in Ukraine but mostly operate under charter or leasing contracts abroad.

Passenger flights were effectively halted when Ukraine fell under martial law, as much of the country became an active warzone after Russia invaded in February 2022.

This left Ukrainian airlines scrambling as they canceled flights and quickly moved their planes into storage. Some aircraft got stuck in Ukraine, but dozens of others were scattered around places like Romania, France, Estonia, and Spain.

Many of these jets were evacuated ahead of time at the direction of aircraft insurers who did not want their planes still in Ukraine given warnings of the potential invasion, the aviation media company Key Aero reported.

Although many of these planes remain grounded or have been reclaimed by their lessor, there are still 18 Ukrainian-registered jets in service, according to Cirium data collected on November 29 and shared with Business Insider.

A handful of Ukrainian carriers represent these aircraft, including SkyUp Airlines, Windrose Airlines, and Skyline Express Airlines — the latter previously known as Azur Air Ukraine but rebranded this year.

SkyUp has been the most vocal about its operations. In September 2022, the privately owned budget airline published a round-up of its missions over the first six months of the war, including signing leasing and charter contracts and operating humanitarian flights.

"When the war started, it was absolutely necessary for us to set up these humanitarian flights, despite any possible risks," SkyUp CEO Dmytro Seroukhov told Business Insider in an interview on Friday. "We flew more than 20 flights in March and April."

The company has 10 planes in operation, including one jet that got left behind when the war broke out and had to be rescued from Ukraine in April 2023. Seroukhov told BI this was a significant task that took about 1,000 people to organize.

Since February 2022, SkyUp has flown thousands of flights and carried millions of people on behalf of close to 20 airlines, Seroukhov said. These include Air Albania, Air Moldova, Corendon Dutch Airlines, Hungary's Wizz Air, and Tunisia's national airline Tunisair, among others.

More recently, the carrier received permission to operate some of its Boeing 737 planes in the US and Canada as it hopes to enter the lucrative North American aircraft leasing market.

"We are in negotiations with several possible partners," Seroukhov told BI.

SkyUp has also set up a Malta subsidiary, known as SkyUp Malta, and has received its air operator certificate to officially become an EU airline.

Seroukhov told BI that the Malta-based arm will have three operations: leasing, charters, and scheduled flights. The company is already using two of its 10 Boeing 737 planes for SkyUp Malta, with plans to add passenger flights in 2024.

"All of these three different parties need to be connected in the same base where the aircraft are located, allowing us to shift to high utilization per aircraft and higher revenue for SkyUp," he said, noting the planes will fly to leisure destinations.

While SkyUp quickly adapted its operation for wartime, charter airlines Windrose and Skyline have only resumed flights as of 2023.

According to the Ukrainian media outlet Avianews, Windrose has two Boeing 737s and one Embraer E190 in service. The E190 has been leased out to Air Montenegro, while the two 737s are being operated by Windrose, the Cirium data sent to BI shows.

Regarding Skyline, only two Boeing 757s in its fleet of 10 aircraft are in service, according to Cirium.

Avianews reported these aircraft were received in 2023 and are flying on behalf of tour operators. Skyline's website lists destinations like Burgas, Bulgaria, and Heraklion, Greece.

Another small Ukrainian airline called YanAir also has a Boeing 737 plane flying, but it was leased out to Mali's Sky Mail in May 2021 — before the war started. And charter carrier Air Urga has operated four turboprop planes for the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service since 2019.

Ukraine's flag carrier is not on the list

The list of airlines still flying does not include Ukraine's national carrier, Ukraine International Airlines, which was also the nation's largest pre-war.

Despite flying on behalf of foreign airlines like airBaltic in 2022, UIA has not flown for over a year due to non-payments for things like maintenance and fuel, Forbes Ukraine reported.

Shortly after ceasing flights last fall, some UIA aircraft were de-registered and sent to new homes, including the three that Windrose is currently flying, according to data from Planespotters.

And UIA is now facing a lawsuit from the Ukrainian state-owned bank, Ukreximbank, asking it to declare bankruptcy, per Forbes, noting the airline has total debts of more than $500 million.

"They no longer have assets in civilized countries to guarantee payment," a former UIA employee who worked in the company's top management told Forbes in October. "UIA as such is an office, that's all."

The airline's assets — including its logo and subsidiaries — have been sold, too, Avianews reported in October. With UIA's collapse, SkyUp is now Ukraine's biggest airline.

Ukraine is evaluating the resumption of civil flight operations

Although passenger flights are still currently suspended amid the ongoing war with Russia, Ukraine has actively discussed how and when to resume civilian operations.

In July, European low-cost giant Ryanair announced a $3 billion plan to return to Ukraine soon after the war ends as a way to help rebuild the battered country. The news came after meetings in Kyiv with Ukraine's government and airport leaders.

"The fastest way to rebuild and restore the Ukrainian economy will be with low-fare air travel," Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said, noting the airline plans to base 30 new MAX planes in Ukraine's three main airports in Kyiv, Lviv, and Odesa.

During a recent trip to the US, the head of the president's office, Andrii Yermak, suggested Ukraine could open one of its airports for civilian use before the war ends, the BBC reported.

"Strengthening air defense will be the key to recovery," he said at a press conference at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC on November 13. "To restore Ukraine, a reliable umbrella is needed."

"In particular, its strengthening will allow us to reopen one of Ukraine's airports," Yermak continued. "We are already working on it with our partners. This is a sign that a turning point in the war is approaching. The next year will be decisive in this regard."

The Ukrainian Air Force has expressed concerns about a pre-mature resumption of civil flights, though. A spokesperson told the Kyiv Post in July that the idea poses "significant risks," noting there are uncertainties surrounding insurance for planes and passengers.

"Currently, all Ukrainian airfields, which serve various purposes, are operational," he said. "However, in a war-torn country like ours, missiles and enemy drones can appear anywhere at any time."