Ukrainian air carrier SkyUp builds up Europe business to survive war

Airline SkyUp has become Ukraine's largest air carrier during the war with Russia by building up its business in Europe to offset the domestic closure of civilian airspace that has lasted more than two years, the company's CEO has said. Not a single commercial flight has carried passengers in or out of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The national flag carrier has declared itself insolvent and other airlines have suffered. "The war started and we had to completely rebuild our model. In 2022 we already had a huge amount of obligations but a complete stop in revenues," CEO Dmytro Seroukhov told Reuters.<br/>The airline, which has 10 planes and about 1,200 staff, pivoted its business model from charter and regular flights to focusing on supplying its aircraft, crews, maintenance and insurance to foreign operators, a model known in the industry as ACMI. "Last year we continued to develop this model and, I think, we have established ourselves. This year we are already a full-fledged player." He said ACMI accounts for about 70% of SkyUp's revenue, making it one of the 20 biggest such operators in Europe. They transported 1.5m passengers in 2023, up from 1m in 2022. Before the invasion, the company set up in 2018 had been Ukraine's fastest growing airline and flew a record of more than 2.57 million passengers to over 50 destinations in 2021. Transport infrastructure, including airports are regularly targeted by Russian missiles and drones, and the airspace closure is indefinite. The Kyiv School of Economics estimates 19 airports and civilian airfields have been damaged with the transport sector taking $3.1b in damage as of June 2023. SkyUp was luckier than other carriers as most of its planes were abroad when the war started. Only one plane was stranded in Kyiv's Boryspil airport and the company managed to retrieve it in April 2023.<br/>