Last month, we reported that Wizz Air managed to repatriate an Airbus A320 stuck in Ukraine for seven months. However, there are three A320-200s still sitting in the Eastern European country as the war continues.

The trio

Airlines had been scrambling to get their staff and aircraft out of Ukraine as Russian troops approached Ukraine in February. While most foreign jets managed to escape, there were still some left grounded. Wizz finally moved a stranded A320 out of Lviv on September 13th, flying to Poland with its transponder off at 10,000 feet. Despite the heroics, there are still three Wizz narrowbodies sitting in Ukraine.

These are all at Kyiv's Igor Sikorsky International Airport (Zhuliany) (IEV). According to ch-aviation, registration HA-LWY conducted its first flight in March 2014 and was delivered the following month. It racked up over 28,000 flight hours before being grounded. Its last flight was from Milan Malpensa to Kyiv on February 23rd.

Meanwhile, HA-LPJ had flown in from Hamburg before being left to sit in Ukraine. The aircraft initially conducted its first flight back in April 2007 before being delivered to Wizz a month later. The 15-year-old performed over 52,000 flight hours.

HA-LPM's first flight was in June 2007, and it was introduced with Wizz in July of that year, going on the conduct over 51,000 flight hours.

All three planes are on lease. The former is owned by JP Morgan Asset Management, and the latter two are owned by DAE Capital.

A different situation

Wizz has been determined to move these three aircraft out, stating that it will be evacuating them at the earliest opportunity. Still, the planes remain in Ukraine's capital.

During a roundtable that Simple Flying attended in London yesterday, Wizz Air UK Managing Director Marion Geoffroy highlighted that it was smoother for the airline’s pilot to evacuate HA-LWS out of Lviv International Airport (LWO) because of geography. The Western Ukraine site is only approximately 70 km (43 mi) from the border of Poland. Therefore, it was able to quickly move transport across the border before landing in Katowice for maintenance.

The proximity to the border is not the only contributing factor. Notably, the primary combat areas have been toward the eastern side of the country. Altogether, Wizz worked closely with the Ukrainian government to facilitate the removal of the aircraft.

The situation in Kyiv is also deteriorating. Just this week, the BBC reported that Russia dive-bombed Kyiv with what appeared to be "kamikaze" drones. With safety the priority, Wizz won’t be willing to take any risks so soon.

As Geoffroy puts it:

“Around Kyiv, it’s a different story. Although the airport was not damaged, the overall airspace around this area today presents risks. The planes are airworthy - we receive news and photos of the aircraft from time to time. They’re not damaged, but as time passes, then you get closer to some technical limitations."

Looking ahead

With the situation in Kyiv still volatile and the overall conditions in Ukraine severe, further assessments would be required. Additionally, there is no official information about the current state of runways. So, it could take some time to get the aircraft to conduct at least another cycle.

A window is hard to come by. Therefore, it’s likely that the A320s will remain in Ukraine for a while.

What are your thoughts about the situation with these aircraft in Ukraine? Let us know what you think in the comment section.

Source: BBC