April 2024 is proving to be a successful month for Ukraine’s SkyUp Airlines. The carrier has announced the signing of not one but two new deals, which will see members of its Boeing 737 fleet operate for two other carriers under ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance) agreements.
The newest agreement has been signed with Bangladesh-based carrier US-Bangla Airlines and was announced on April 17, 2024. The first flight under the contract took place on April 7, 2024. Privately-owned US-Bangla Airlines is the largest airline in Bangladesh by fleet size and is headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Under the contract, which covers the period from April 1, 2024, until March 31, 2025, US-Bangla Airlines will wet-lease two SkyUp Boeing 737s to deploy on flights from its Dhaka base to destinations including the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Seychelles.
“This latest partnership marks a significant milestone for us, and we’re eager to embark on this journey of growth and opportunity,” said Head of SkyUp’s ACMI department, Oleksii Tarasov. “We look forward to an exciting period of our partner network expansion and providing service excellence.”
The second of the two deals, announced on April 12, 2024, will see the Ukrainian carrier provide three 737s to Wizz Air for twelve months, from April 1, 2024, until March 31, 2025. Two of these aircraft will be based in Bucharest (OTP) while the other will be based in Warsaw (WAW).
“The development of transportation under ACMI contracts is currently a central component of our development strategy,” said Dmytro Sieroukhov, CEO of SkyUp. “Signing the contract with Wizz Air is an important stage for us because we already have a positive experience of cooperation with this air carrier. This once again confirms that SkyUp is a reliable partner for European leaders in air transport and can provide a high level of safety and quality of services.”
“We are happy to announce our partnership with SkyUp,” said Mauro Peneda, Head of the Operations Control Centre at Wizz Air. “Their commitment to operational excellence and their dedication to maintaining high standards of safety and professionalism align perfectly with our values, as was proven during our previous experiences working together. This summer [2024] we aim for new heights as we collaborate with SkyUp to deliver exceptional service to our passengers.”
Ukrainian charter and low-cost carrier SkyUp Airlines first took flight in May 2018 and is headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine. Following the invasion of the country by Russian forces in February 2022, and with no ability to operate flights from its home country at first, SkyUp began the development of a new business direction by operating flights for other airlines under the terms of ACMI contracts.
The list of airlines with which SkyUp has already cooperated since the invasion began includes Tunisair, FlyOne, HiSky SRL, HiSky Europe SRL, Wizz Air Malta, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, Corendon Dutch Airlines, Tailwind Airlines, and FlyEgypt. US-Bangla Airlines becomes the latest addition to this list.
According to ch-aviation, SkyUp operates an active fleet of seven Boeing 737s. The fleet comprises two 149-seat 737-700s, plus five 189-seat 737-800s, one of which has recently been transferred to the carrier’s new Maltese-based subsidiary, SkyUp MT.