A new Ukrainian MRO has just opened a line maintenance station in Turkey after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sidelined its initial operating plans. Sky-Stream, the maintenance organization of Ukrainian charter and low-cost carrier SkyUp Airlines, has now launched a line maintenance station at Antalya Airport.
 
Sky-Stream was founded in March 2021 to exclusively maintain SkyUp’s fleet of Boeing 737-700NG, -800NG and 900ER aircraft. It received its maintenance approval certificate in February, at which time it had a maintenance station at Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv equipped and prepared. However, the Russian invasion forced SkyUp to look for other potential maintenance locations abroad.
 
It partnered with Turkish line maintenance specialist TD Team Aviation and carriers Corendon Airlines, Freebird Airlines and Tailwind Airlines to open the Antalya station. The station currently maintains three of SkyUp’s aircraft, and the airline says it will add one more aircraft by the end of August and two more in the fall. The Antalya line station will be operational until October, at which point the airline says it plans to open several more line maintenance stations in other countries. Aviation Week has reached out to the airline for more details about these plans.
 
“The ability for our technical specialists to continue working in wartime conditions is a necessary requirement for maintaining the necessary experience and validity of their aircraft maintenance licenses,” says Dmytro Seroukhov, general director of SkyUp Airlines. “In addition, it is a chance for us to preserve the professional potential of the country for the revival of the Ukrainian aviation industry after our victory.”
 
Sky-Stream has 41 employees, and it is approved for line maintenance of Boeing 737-600, -700, -800 and -900 aircraft. SkyUp operates nine 737-800NGs, two 737-700NGs and four 737-900ERs in Europe and the United Arab Emirates.