Motor Sich Airlines

Motor Sich Airlines
Авіакомпанія Мотор Січ
IATA ICAO Call sign
M9[1] MSI MOTOR SICH
Founded1984
HubsZaporizhzhia International Airport
Fleet size2
Destinations8
Parent companyMotor Sich
HeadquartersZaporizhzhia, Ukraine

Motor Sich is a Ukrainian airline based in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. It operates passenger and cargo services, including charter and scheduled flights. Its main base is Zaporizhzhia International Airport.[2]

History

The airline was established in 1984 and is wholly owned by the Motor Sich Joint Stock Company, an aircraft-engine company.[2] At the peaks of its operations, the airline maintained offices in Kyiv, Moscow, Istanbul, Ankara, Sharjah, and Delhi, and operated a fleet of 10 aircraft and 7 helicopters.[3] Previously, the airline was included on the list of banned airlines in European Union airspace due to safety issues.[4] In November 2009, this was lifted following an inspection by the European Aviation Safety Agency that confirmed improvements had been made.[4]

In March 2019, the airline launched a new domestic route between Kyiv and Uzhhorod with a connection in Lviv, with the inaugural flight on 15 March 2019 being opened by then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan.[5][6] The route was notable because at the time, the destination, Uzhhorod Airport, had operated no regular flights since June 2016 and had only received European Aviation Safety Agency confirmation in December 2018.[5] Despite this, the route was cancelled in May 2019, after less than two months, because of its unprofitability.[5] Later that same year, the airline also cancelled most of its routes from Kyiv, including to Odesa and a lot of its Lviv routes, and instead would focus more on its route from Zaporizhzhia to Kyiv, which they were operating twice daily, and to Minsk, which was operating four times per week.[7][8] Motor Sich also indicated at the time that the Kyiv-Uzhhorod route might be resumed in spring 2020,[7] although this never happened because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In June 2021, the airline resumed flights between Kyiv and Lviv using the Antonov An-24.[9] They also launched a new domestic route between Kyiv and Mykolaiv in January 2022 that would have four flights per week.[10] It was the first Ukrainian airline to operate the route.[10] On 24 February 2022, Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian flights due to the Russian invasion.[11] The airline has suspended all passenger flights until further notice, although it continues to operate cargo flights. On 23 October 2022, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) detained the honorary president of Motor Sich and the airline, Vyacheslav Bohuslayev, on suspicion of treason by cooperating with Russia.[12][13] The allegation was that he supplied batches of Ukrainian aircraft engines to Russia, which were used in Russian military helicopters against Ukraine.[12][13]

Destinations

Belarus
Ukraine
Saudi Arabia

Codeshare agreements

Motor Sich Airlines has had a codeshare agreement with Belavia.[15]

Fleet

Motor Sich Airlines Antonov An-140
Motor Sich Airlines Yakovlev Yak-40

Current fleet

As of August 2025, Motor Sich Airlines operates the following aircraft:[16]

Motor Sich Airlines Fleet
Aircraft In fleet Orders Notes
Antonov An-12 2 —
Total 2

Former fleet

As of November 2017, the Motor Sich fleet included the following aircraft[17]

Former Motor Sich Airlines Fleet
Aircraft In fleet Orders Notes
Antonov An-12 2 —
Antonov An-24RV 3 —
Antonov An-74 1 — Convertible between freight and passenger
Antonov An-140 1 2 Currently painted in 'Motor Handball' livery (2019)
Yakovlev Yak-40 3 — UR-VBV in VIP configuration
Mil Mi-8 3 —
Total 13 2

The airline has also previously operated[17]

Accidents

On 2 July 2022, an Antonov An-12 (registration number UR-11316) transporting military cargo from Istanbul, Turkey skidded the runway while landing in Uzhhorod Airport. The aircraft suffered light damage.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "IATA - Airline and Airport Code Search". iata.org. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-10. p. 52.
  3. ↑ "Мотор Січ Авіакомпанія". LIGA.net (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Three Ukrainian airlines regain right to conduct flights to EU". Kyiv Post. 27 November 2009. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. 1 2 3 "Авіарейс Київ-Ужгород скасували за менш ніж 2 місяці після офіційного відкриття". Hromadske (in Ukrainian). 6 May 2019. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ↑ "Мотор Січ припиняє виконувати рейс Київ-Ужгород, який відкривали Порошенко і Омелян". NV. 6 May 2019. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. 1 2 ""Мотор Січ" скасувала ряд авіарейсів з Києва". РБК-Украина (in Ukrainian). 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ↑ "Авіакомпанія "Мотор-Січ" скасовує більшість рейсів із Києва до Одеси та Львова". Unian (in Ukrainian). 7 November 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  9. ↑ ""Мотор Сич" вернется на линию Киев-Львов на 50-летних самолетах: в каком они состоянии". РБК-Украина (in Ukrainian). 9 June 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  10. 1 2 ""Мотор Січ" запускає рейси за новим внутрішнім напрямком: деталі маршруту". 24 Канал (in Ukrainian). 10 January 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  11. ↑ "Ukraine closes airspace to civilian flights amid Russian military action". Reuters. 2022-02-24. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  12. 1 2 "СБУ підтвердила затримання почесного президента «Мотор Січі» Вʼячеслава Богуслаєва за підозрою в роботі на росію". babel.ua (in Ukrainian). 23 October 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  13. 1 2 "СБУ затримала голову правління "Мотор Січі" Богуслаєва". РБК-Украина (in Ukrainian). 23 October 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  14. ↑ "Cancellation of flights between Zaporizhzhia and Minsk". flymotorsich.com. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  15. ↑ "Partner Airlines - BELAVIA - Belarusian Airlines". en.belavia.by. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  16. ↑ "Global Airline Guide 2025 - Motor Sich Airlines". Airliner World. September 2025. p. 77.
  17. 1 2 "Motor Sich Aviakompania (ATDB)". aerotransport.org.
  18. ↑ "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 280053". Aviation Safety Network.
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