A new Ukrainian budget carrier called SkyUp will take to the skies from April 2018, offering Ukrainians affordable airfares and charter flights on foreign and domestic routes, Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan said on Dec. 14.
Speaking at SkyUp’s launch ceremony in Kyiv, Omelyan said SkyUp would be a “national airline” – which caused some confusion.
In fact, SkyUp is a privately owned company founded by Yuri Alba, the man behind a tour operator Join UP!
“The Ukrainian government is working on cutting the number of state-owned enterprises,” Omelyan said, referring to the large-scale privatization reform that Ukraine has embarked on at the suggestion of the International Monetary Fund.
“SkyUp is a national company in the sense that it is being established with 100 percent Ukrainian capital without state participation,” the minister said.
He added that no subsidies or privileges would be given to the new airline, as the government wants to encourage fair competition.
“We’re open to working with other air carriers and tour agencies,” Alba added.
According to the general director of SkyUp, Yevheniy Khainatskyi, the company’s plan for 2018 is to open charter flights to some of the foreign resorts most popular with Ukrainians.
SkyUp will operate international charter flights from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Odesa airports to 16 cities, in Turkey, the UAE, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Albania, Bulgaria, and Cyprus.
Domestically, SkyUp will connect Odesa with Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Lviv. Ticket prices will start from Hr 499 ($18.30) one way.
At the moment SkyUp’s fleet consists of four Boeing aircraft.
Since Ukraine was granted visa-free regime with the European Union and approved ID-card only travel with Turkey earlier this year, the country’s aviation market has seen a surge of interest from foreign airlines.
