SkyUp Airlines

Is SkyUp Airlines safe?

Yes, on the record so far. SkyUp has flown since May 2018 without a fatal accident or losing an aircraft in operation, and its Ukrainian certificate passed a risk-based IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit in late 2025. The main catches are an older fleet of Boeing 737-800s and an unusual set-up: Ukraine's airspace has been closed since February 2022, so the airline lives abroad. We score it 80.

That puts it below Wizz Air and Ryanair, which have longer clean records and newer jets, but well inside the range of established European leisure airlines.

Which SkyUp airline operates my flight?

SkyUp is a brand with three operating certificates behind it. The flight number tells you which one you are on:

Airline	Prefix	Certificate and regulator
SkyUp Airlines LLC	PQ	Ukraine, AOC UA 055; EASA third-country authorisation UKR-0040
SkyUp MT Limited	U5	Malta, within the EASA system (since May 2023)
SKY UP NISTRU	4V	Moldova, AOC MD 026; EASA third-country authorisation MDA-0011

The Ukrainian company is the original airline and the one that holds IOSA registrationIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary and IATA membership. SkyUp MT is its Maltese subsidiary, set up so the group could fly inside the EU as an EU airline. SKY UP NISTRU was the Moldovan airline Vision Air until it rebranded and received an updated certificate in spring 2026; SkyUp calls it a strategic partner, not a subsidiary. Its Tel Aviv flights from Chișinău run on 4V numbers.

Much of SkyUp's flying never shows its own name on the ticket. Since 2022 it has leased aircraft with crews (ACMI, or wet leasing) to airlines such as Wizz Air, Corendon, Smartwings and Tunisair. If your holiday flight turns up in SkyUp colours, SkyUp's certificate and crews are flying it.

Is SkyUp still flying from Ukraine?

No. No civil airline has flown in Ukrainian airspace since 24 February 2022, and EASA's conflict-zone bulletin for Ukraine (CZIB-2022-01R14) is valid to at least 31 January 2027. SkyUp kept its Ukrainian certificate and staff and moved its scheduled flying to Chișinău, the closest big airport to southern Ukraine. In 2026 it flew from there to more than 30 cities, from Dublin and Lisbon to Tbilisi and Tel Aviv, and it has announced Dubai and London. It also flies seasonal routes from Bucharest, Katowice, Warsaw and Rzeszów.

What has gone wrong at SkyUp?

No crash, and the events on record ended without injuries.

• Khartoum, 15 April 2023. A SkyUp 737-800, UR-SQH, was flying for Sudan's Sun Air when fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The aircraft burned on the apron and was written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary; nobody was aboard. It is SkyUp's only hull loss. We leave it out of the accident score because it was destroyed in fighting, not in flight.
• Sharm el-Sheikh, 9 November 2019. A 737-800 from Zaporizhzhia caught fire near a left main-gear wheel while taxiing after landing. Ground crews put it out, and all 196 people on board left unhurt. Egypt's civil aviation ministry blamed a hydraulic oil leak.
• Near Kyiv, December 2019 and June 2021. A 737-900 had unreliable airspeed indications climbing towards Tbilisi; another had a cabin that would not pressurise, with a burning smell, on the way to Batumi. Both returned safely.
• Rzeszów, 7 July 2025. An Airbus A321neo flying SkyUp charter U5 7349 to Sharm el-Sheikh flew into a hailstorm after take-off, damaging its nose cone and windshield. It diverted to Katowice. The aircraft, registered 9H-PEB, is not in SkyUp's own fleet list, so it was most likely leased in.

The list is thin, and that is partly a data problem. Ukraine's investigation bureau publishes little in English, and most of what is known comes from news and tracking sites. We do not score a short list as clean.

Is the SkyUp fleet old?

Older than average. SkyUp flies only Boeing 737-800s, built between 1999 and 2013, and it retired its last 737-700 in 2026. The company put the average age at 14 years in 2024; the same jets are about two years older now. Ryanair's 737s average about 10 years and Wizz Air's Airbus jets 4.5.

The group fleet is small. In December 2024 it had nine of its own aircraft, six on the Ukrainian certificate (registered UR-SQ…) and three on the Maltese one (9H-…). SKY UP NISTRU adds leased 737-800s. SkyUp's original order for Boeing 737 MAX jets has never been delivered.

Age alone does not make an aircraft unsafe; maintenance does. The 737-800 is one of the most common airliners in the world, and SkyUp's maintenance oversight sits with Ukrainian and Maltese regulators. Still, the airline has no new-generation aircraft, and the fleet score reflects that.

How to fly SkyUp safely

• Check the prefix on your booking. PQ, U5 and 4V are three different airlines with three regulators. If the flight was sold by another airline, ask which airline operates it.
• Allow extra time if you cross from Ukraine. Chișinău flights rely on land border crossings, and SkyUp has warned that crossings in the Odesa region can be slow after attacks. Plan to arrive the day before.
• Watch for changes on Israel and Gulf routes. In February and March 2026, SkyUp cancelled Chișinău to Tel Aviv flights for weeks under Israeli airspace restrictions. Keep your booking email and notifications on.

How we scored it

The accident record (88) is clean for eight years of flying but shorter than the 20 years the top band asks for. Oversight (80) gains from IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary and EASA authorisation, and the fleet (66) loses for 737-800s built as long ago as 1999. Incidents (76) and environment (72) reflect a short incident list with thin official reporting and flying close to conflict zones.