SkyUp MT (U5, Malta International) announced it will start its first scheduled flights in April 2025, operating from Chisinau International in Moldova.
The airline will fly from the Molodvan capital 2x weekly to Paris Beauvais, 1x weekly to Lisbon, 1x weekly to Barcelona El Prat, 2x weekly to Alicante, 2x weekly to Palma de Mallorca, 3x weekly to Larnaca, and 1x weekly to Irakleion. Frequencies on the routes to Barcelona and Irakleion will increase in time to 3x and 4x weekly, respectively. According to the carrier's internet booking engine, the flights will be operated with B737-800s.
“We are committed to ensuring Ukrainian aviation remains resilient and making travel easier for Ukrainians around the world,” Dmytro Seroukhov, CEO of SkyUp Airlines, said in a statement, also conceding that maintaining a team, operations, and fleet has not been easy since the invasion.
SkyUp chose the Moldovan capital, it said, as “one of the closest international hubs near the Ukrainian border,” making it practical for Ukrainian travellers. The route launch means it will finally follow through on long-held plans after being forced to halt scheduled operations following Russia’s invasion and the subsequent closure of Ukrainian airspace.
Parent company SkyUp Airlines is originally a Ukrainian carrier that has been operating as a charter/ACMI carrier since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, and it launched the Maltese AOC to be able to operate in Europe. The two AOCs effectively function as a single unit.
In April, Seroukhov told ch-aviation in an exclusive interview that SkyUp had dropped its scheduled plans and was going to focus on charters and ACMI. The carrier operates an in-house fleet consisting of one B737-700 and five B737-800s on its Ukrainian AOC and three B737-800s on the Maltese AOC, ch-aviation fleets data shows. The airline has an old, still undelivered order for two B737-7s, two B737-8s and three B737-10s from Boeing.
