The Wizz Air airline has leased a second plane from the Ukrainian-based SkyUp Airlines.
The CFTS portal reported this, citing the Avianews publication.
A Boeing 737-800 airliner belonging to the SkyUp airline (registration number UR-SQM) began performing regular flights from Albania’s capital Tirana to Italian cities for the Wizz Air airline on 26 August.
The airplane performed four flights on the first day of the lease and had eight flights scheduled for the second day.
SkyUp took delivery of the airliner in August 2022. Wizz Air uses this 189-seater aircraft to perform the flights that were performed by its own Airbus A320 airliners of similar capacity.
Wizz Air needed to lease the Ukrainian planes this summer because it encountered problems because of a shortage of personnel. Demand for flights in Europe has recovered, but the low-cost carrier could not secure the return to work a sufficient number of the workers who were laid off because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ukrainian airline wet leased the aircraft to Wizz Air. Wet leasing is a type of leasing operation in which an airline provides an aircraft, trained crews, and maintenance.
This is now the main type of operation performed by SkyUp, its Ukrainian pilots, and flight attendants because the airline cannot operate its own flights from Ukraine because of the war in the country.
Another Boeing 737-800 airliner belonging to SkyUp (registration number UR-SQO) has been operating flights for Wizz Air since the end of June. This aircraft is based in Bulgaria.
