On February 24, 2022, Ukraine's air traffic service closed the country's airspace to civil aviation, banning civilian planes from taking off from or flying over it. Those already in the air were forced to land.

Due to the specific provisions of European aviation law, Ukrainian companies could only operate charter and regular flights between Ukraine and other European countries without the ability to carry passengers, for example, from Warsaw to Berlin. Essentially, all Ukrainian airlines lost the right to fly.

"Like any other Ukrainian airline, we were not allowed to operate flights within Europe between point 'A' and point 'B.' This seriously affected not just us but all Ukrainian airlines. Everyone had to look for new solutions," says SkyUp Airlines Safety Director Oleksandr Shafiiev.

SkyUp began transforming its business model and searching for a way to operate in the European market. They started creating and certifying a new company within an EU country, allowing them to pay their employees regularly and, most importantly, maintain their licenses so they wouldn't have to re-obtain them.

"We started looking for solutions in the first weeks of the large-scale invasion. We needed to find a new model, completely different from what we had before. In my opinion, we found the solution quite quickly, and it allowed the company to survive," says Oleksandr Shafiiev.

Initially, the company began performing ACMI contracts, known as "wet leasing." SkyUp rented out its planes to other airlines, providing the aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance or ACMI. Leases enabled them to complete over 7,000 flights and transport a million passengers in 2022.

At the same time, the airline wanted to fully resume operations in the European market, which couldn't be done unless the company was legally part of that market. After the Russian invasion began, the company started creating a new business in Malta.

"Why Malta? There are several reasons. Actually, many airlines are registered in Malta. The taxes are meager, and the legislation is well-structured," says Shafiiev.

Over a year later, the certification process was completed, and SkyUp MT was launched in May 2023 to expand the company's activities in Europe and operate regular flights. Last year, SkyUp's planes were involved in more than 10,000 flights.

The quick adaptation and change in the company's work model to meet new circumstances allowed SkyUp Airlines to retain over a thousand employees, pay salaries and contribute taxes to Ukraine's budget.

"We currently have a little over 1,100 employees. At the start of the large-scale invasion, we had about 1,200. Some people left, but this was mainly due to factors unrelated to the company. Our employees are now spread across Europe, and some choose locations closer to them geographically," says the company's top manager.

Currently, most of the company's employees continue to work from Ukraine. Only pilots and flight attendants rotate regularly abroad. They fly abroad for a while and then return to Ukraine, where other pilots and flight attendants take their place.

For example, most engineers work in the Kyiv office since a large part of their job involves calculations, with fewer specialists needed to work directly with the aircraft.

Despite finding a way out of the challenging situation, it is too early to discuss profitability. The money earned goes to salaries, covering debts, and overcoming the challenges of a difficult 2022.

"It's hard to talk about profits. The 2022 severely impacted the company's income. It was in a callous state," says Oleksandr Shafiyev. "Some obligations were postponed to the future, but we can definitely say the company is back on its feet, performing flights, and has the potential for real growth."

It's also crucial that the company provides work for Ukrainian pilots. If they didn't fly for a long time, they would lose the ability to do so in the future. Pilots would have to retrain and obtain new licenses, which is time-consuming and expensive.

This way, aviation specialists remain in Ukraine. When even one Ukrainian airport reopens, qualified staff will still be ready to work there.

However, due to significant security risks, Oleksandr Shafiiev sees no chance of flights starting in Ukraine soon. The situation in Ukraine differs significantly from Israel, where airports operate despite possible attacks. Hamas' capabilities are much smaller in terms of the quantity and precision of the strikes compared to Russia, making it incorrect to compare Israel and Ukraine.

Even if Ukrainian skies or parts of them reopen and the authorities allow airlines to fly, another problem remains — leasing companies might not permit it. The companies leasing aircraft to Ukrainian airlines might consider such flights too dangerous.

"We definitely want to be the first company to start flying to Ukraine, and I hope we succeed. But as of now, I don't see conditions for flights to Ukraine," says Oleksandr Shafiiev.

While waiting for the chance to return to Ukrainian skies, the company stresses, "We were a Ukrainian company, remain a Ukrainian company, and will continue to be a Ukrainian company." SkyUp has shown its loyalty to its homeland by initiating several social projects during the full-scale war.

Together with the Ukrainian football club Shakhtar, the airline raised over €1 million through a series of charity matches, donating the funding to medical needs and helping children affected by the war. In collaboration with the tour operator Join Up, the company also arranged vacations abroad for Ukrainian soldiers and children with autism spectrum disorders.

SkyUp also partnered with the UNITED24 fundraising platform, branding one of their planes with "The Power of Freedom" and a QR code for donations and raising over €10,000 for medical kits. The business also organized a virtual concert, thekomakoma, with UNITED24 to raise funds for rebuilding a damaged school in the Kyiv region.