According to the official, SkyUp Airlines flew between Lisbon, Funchal and Ukraine before the war began, but with the armed conflict, it suspended operations and is now resuming flights to Lisbon with the aim of increasing connections to up to three per week and, later, also returning to Madeira.

“We will start with flights once a week, every Friday, with the potential, if everything goes well, to increase to three flights a week. We also want to restart flights to Madeira, but this should only happen at the end of the year or next year. And if the war ends, we will return to operating for Ukraine,” Viktor Puharskyy explained to Publituris.

According to the official, Ukrainians returning to the country do so via air connections to Moldova or Poland, then take land transport to their final destinations in the country.

SkyUp Airlines flights will be operated on Boeing 737 aircraft, with Viktor Puharskyy explaining that, initially, the carrier will use the smaller version, the B737-700, with 149 seats, and will move to the B737-800, with 189 seats, during the summer season.

The flights are regular and will take place throughout the year, and, in addition to Ukrainian travellers, they also aim to attract the Moldovan community that lives in Portugal, with the person in charge indicating that “some promotions are also being carried out in Moldova”, with the aim of making “Portugal known as a holiday destination”.

SkyUp Airlines' objective is also to establish partnerships with tour operators in order to launch travel packages to Portugal, but also to Moldova and Ukraine, something that happened before the war and that continues to be a priority.