The main Turkish carrier Turkish Airlines leased 6 planes from the Ukrainian low-cost carrier SkyUp Airlines, Turkish travel media reported. Under conditions of geopolitical tension, both sides were satisfied with the agreement: Turkey was given the opportunity to increase the flow of tourists to its resorts, and Ukraine – a certain income, as civilian planes can not fly over the country yet.
It will be recalled that the airspace over Ukraine and the country’s airports have been closed to civil aviation indefinitely since February 24, 2022, ie for more than two months. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. It is possible that they will be directed to European routes, because this summer season there will be mostly tourists from Europe and the Middle East, not from Russia. In addition, the lease term of the contract remained a secret.
Reference: On March 22, SkyUp Airlines published an open letter addressed to foreign airlines and offered 15 of its Boeing-737 aircraft in the so-called “wet lease”. The only requirement for the future partner from the Ukrainian side is that the leased aircraft should not fly to Russia and Belarus.
According to Airporthaber, SkyUp Airlines, which is in a difficult situation since the beginning of the war, has leased planes to other airlines. Thus, the Latvian airline AirBaltic announced that it has also signed a contract for the temporary lease of a Boeing 737-900ER passenger aircraft owned by Ukraine International Airlines, Ukraine’s flagship airline. The start date of the lease is known – May 1. But the term of the contract is not disclosed.