HISKY · ROMANIAN CARRIER · DUAL HUB
HiSky obtained its Romanian air operator certificate in December 2020 and began flying in February 2021. Registered in Romania, it operates from two hubs, Bucharest OTP and Chisinau KIV, on European, Middle Eastern and transatlantic routes. Prepared by Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited to describe its passenger belly cargo network for Chinese shippers.
Image: narrowbody climbing, cloud layers and the OTP/KIV hub markers
HiSky is a privately owned airline registered in Romania, with IATA code H4 and ICAO code HYS. It received its Romanian air operator certificate (AOC) on 11 December 2020, was certified by the Moldovan civil aviation authority in February 2021 and began operations on 22 February 2021 with first flights from Cluj to Dublin and Lisbon. Its website is hisky.aero.
HiSky works from two hubs, Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport (OTP) and Chisinau International Airport (KIV) in Moldova, and has operating bases at Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Oradea, Iasi and Baia Mare, flying from seven airports in total. The fleet is built on the Airbus A320 family, with the first widebody, an Airbus A330-200, added in 2023 for transatlantic routes.
For Chinese shippers the value of HiSky lies in two Southeast European markets covered by its hubs. Export cargo from China that transits a Western European or Middle Eastern hub can connect to a HiSky flight into Bucharest or Chisinau and move on into Romania and Moldova. Its A330 transatlantic belly capacity also gives cargo a connection to North America through Bucharest.
HiSky started with first flights from Cluj-Napoca to Dublin and Lisbon in February 2021 and expanded quickly, building a network of 28 scheduled routes within three years, moving its base from Cluj to Bucharest and Chisinau and adding bases at Timisoara, Iasi, Baia Mare and Oradea. Published milestones put cumulative passengers above five million, and the airline remains a leading supplier in the Romanian and Moldovan charter market.
In June 2024 HiSky opened a nonstop Bucharest-New York JFK route with an Airbus A330-200, becoming the first private Romanian airline to operate scheduled transatlantic flights and restoring Romania's scheduled nonstop link to the United States after twenty years. The route started at four flights a week and increased to five. Published plans show a nonstop Bucharest-Chicago route from June 2026, extending the transatlantic network from New York to Chicago. The widebody service makes HiSky one of the few Southeast European carriers with both a narrowbody European network and widebody transatlantic belly capacity.
As a young privately owned airline registered in Romania, HiSky is still expanding its network, and points and frequencies change with the season. Chinese shippers using its belly capacity should work from the points and schedules the carrier publishes on the day of booking, and plan the year's cargo budget around its network growth.
The HiSky fleet in service consists of eight Airbus aircraft, with an average age among the youngest in Europe. All cargo capacity comes from passenger belly space and the airline does not operate dedicated freighters. The table lists aircraft types and capacity characteristics from public sources; the types and numbers actually in service follow carrier confirmation on the day of booking.
| Aircraft type | Capacity characteristics and use |
|---|---|
| Airbus A319 | About 144 seats, a narrowbody regional type on Bucharest and Chisinau routes to secondary European cities, with belly space used mainly for bulk cargo. |
| Airbus A320 | About 180 seats, the fleet mainstay on scheduled European and Middle East routes; the belly takes bulk cargo and LD3 containers and is the main type radiating from the two hubs into Europe. |
| Airbus A321neoLR | About 220 seats, a long-range narrowbody with range above 7,000 km, used on longer European routes and short to medium cross-regional sectors, with more belly volume than the A320. |
| Airbus A330-200 | About 274 seats, HiSky's first widebody and the only one on the Romanian register, flying Bucharest to New York JFK across the Atlantic; its belly has widebody container and temperature control capability and is the most capable cargo unit in the fleet. |
Public information shows HiSky plans to grow the fleet to ten aircraft in the near term. The widebody A330 belly is the cargo highlight: compared with narrowbodies it takes AKE containers and has active temperature-controlled power outlets, which suits temperature-sensitive and high-value cargo, but its flights are limited to the Bucharest to New York JFK transatlantic sector.
From a cargo perspective the HiSky fleet forms two tiers of belly capability. The A319, A320 and A321neoLR cover the European and Middle East regional network, with belly space used mainly for bulk cargo and small containers, which suits distribution within Europe once Chinese cargo reaches OTP or KIV. The widebody A330-200 covers the transatlantic trunk with LD3 container and temperature-controlled power capability, which suits higher-value cargo needing widebody space, but traffic on that sector is mainly two-way North American, so China-origin volumes over that path must be assessed against capacity availability on the day of booking.
In practice, if the destination is Romania or Moldova, narrowbody belly space is enough; if the destination is North America and a south-east European connection is acceptable, the A330 belly is worth watching. The two must be confirmed separately at booking and cannot be treated as one pool.
HiSky runs Bucharest OTP as its main hub and Chisinau KIV as a secondary hub, radiating into Europe, the Middle East and North America. The published summer 2026 plan shows twenty-seven nonstop routes, thirteen of them from Bucharest, serving New York, Chicago, Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels, Tel Aviv, Dublin, Malaga, Barcelona, Chisinau, Cluj, Timisoara and Oradea at about seventy flights a week. Beyond scheduled service the airline also operates tourist charters to holiday destinations in Europe, Asia and Africa, with charter belly space opened seasonally.
Structurally, OTP carries the international trunk and transatlantic role while KIV handles Moldovan domestic and short regional traffic. Scheduled flights link the two hubs, forming a short air corridor between Romania and Moldova. For Chinese shippers this means cargo entering OTP can be distributed across Romania by truck or move on a short flight into KIV to cover Moldova, so one connection covers two countries.
Figure: OTP main hub and KIV secondary hub, schematic layout, not actual routings
HiSky does not operate scheduled flights in China, and no published nonstop from China to Bucharest or Chisinau exists. Chinese export cargo must leave a main Chinese international gateway, transit a western European or Middle Eastern hub and connect to a HiSky flight into OTP or KIV.
Shanghai Pudong PVG, Beijing PEK/PKX, Guangzhou CAN, Shenzhen SZX and Chengdu TFU can all handle the departure, moving cargo to a European hub in widebody belly space or on a freighter.
Frankfurt FRA, Paris CDG, Amsterdam AMS and Istanbul IST are common connection points, from which HiSky flights run to OTP or KIV.
Bucharest OTP covers all of Romania and Chisinau KIV covers Moldova, with onward trucking to inland destinations.
HiSky schedules change with the season and are subject to carrier confirmation on the day of booking; times are local.
No public information shows a fixed cargo schedule operated by HiSky in China. [Note: this point is not in public sources and follows carrier confirmation on the day of booking.]
For exports to Bucharest the usual combination is widebody belly from Shanghai, Guangzhou or Shenzhen nonstop to Frankfurt, Paris or Istanbul, customs transit at the hub, then a HiSky narrowbody into OTP and trucking to inland Romanian cities. For Chisinau, cargo can connect after OTP to the HiSky Bucharest to Chisinau short sector, or transit another European hub to KIV.
Moldova is a small market that freighter networks rarely reach directly, so HiSky belly flights from OTP and KIV give Chinese air cargo a rare scheduled channel into the country. Shippers with steady Moldova volumes should secure KIV capacity first at booking and consolidate pallets with Romania-bound cargo to improve utilization.
From China, the directions the dual hub opens include China to Romania (Bucharest OTP, Cluj, Timisoara), China to Moldova (Chisinau KIV) and, radiating from OTP, the surrounding south-east European markets. With A330 widebody belly, cargo connecting at Bucharest can also join transatlantic flows toward New York JFK.
By category, air cargo from China to Romania and Moldova is mainly consumer electronics, textiles and garments, auto parts, telecom equipment and general industrial goods. Moldova is a small market and cargo is mostly distributed through Chisinau, while Romania has more capacity and the Bucharest hub supports more dispersed last-mile delivery. On the transatlantic side the A330 belly offers Chinese shippers a supplementary path to North America through Romania, though traffic on that sector is mainly two-way North American and China-origin volumes must be assessed against capacity availability on the day of booking.
Romania and Moldova sit in south-east Europe, and trade between China and the region has grown in recent years. Chinese consumer electronics and telecom equipment hold a steady share of retail and distribution there, textiles, garments and footwear move with seasonal replenishment, and auto parts serve Romanian and regional automotive clusters. Time requirements vary: electronics are time-sensitive and suit air belly capacity, while garments can go by sea plus truck but still need air top-ups in peak season.
For Chinese shippers the dual hub provides a channel distributed by a local south-east European carrier, which shortens last-mile time compared with all-truck haulage and reaches the smaller Moldovan market that trunk freighter routes skip. Shippers can combine sea freight, widebody belly trunk capacity and HiSky narrowbody belly to build a multimodal plan covering Romania and Moldova.
OTP and KIV together cover Romania and Moldova, so one connection puts Chinese cargo into two south-east European markets and cuts the cost of booking them separately.
The A320 family fleet is young, with good fuel efficiency and punctuality, and dense narrowbody belly schedules suit short connections within Europe.
The single widebody A330 in the fleet offers container and temperature control capability, and its transatlantic belly provides widebody-class space for high-value and temperature-controlled cargo.
Chisinau in Moldova is a small market that freighter networks rarely reach directly, and HiSky belly space gives Chinese cargo an air channel into the country.
Romania and Moldova are both in south-east Europe, and one booking through the OTP/KIV hubs covers both markets, cutting the effort of dealing with separate carriers.
HiSky is expanding its fleet and network and adding points and seasons, so Chinese shippers gain more south-east European connection options as the network grows and can deepen cooperation on steady flows.
Chinese shippers book HiSky belly capacity through an IATA-recognized freight forwarder. Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited handles the whole operation: departure from a Chinese gateway, transit at a European hub, connection to HiSky into OTP or KIV, and distribution.
The process runs as follows: the shipper submits a booking instruction stating the origin gateway, destination city (in Romania or Moldova), pieces, weight, dimensions and cargo characteristics; we work out the interline routing, securing widebody belly on the China sector to the hub first and then confirming HiSky capacity on the connecting sector; cargo is delivered and declared by cut-off, transhipped at the hub, and finally distributed to OTP/KIV and inland. Standard documents are the commercial invoice, packing list, declaration authorization and house waybill. Temperature-controlled cargo on A330 belly must declare the temperature range and ULD requirements in advance.
The China sector and the HiSky connection are operated by different carriers, so capacity on both must be locked in one booking and the minimum connection time checked. Customs transit and transhipment at the hub need enough time to avoid a misconnection and offload if the first flight is late. We check flight combinations against hub transit rules at booking and reserve capacity early in peak season to protect transit time.
For Moldova-bound cargo, note the customs and documentation differences between Moldova and Romania. We prepare the declaration and clearance documents required by the destination country so cargo is not held when it transfers from OTP to KIV. Standard trade cargo usually takes one to two working days from instruction to capacity confirmation, and three to five days of lead time in peak season.
HiSky cargo is mainly passenger belly space, and narrowbody bellies cannot take the oversize and overweight pieces a widebody freighter can, so very large cargo must move on a freighter trunk route. The A330 widebody belly offers container and temperature control capability for temperature-sensitive and high-value cargo, but only on the transatlantic sector. Dangerous goods are declared under the IATA DGR, live animals and valuables are carried under the general rules for passenger belly space, and acceptance follows carrier confirmation on the day of booking.
Typical cargo on this network is general trade replenishment of consumer electronics, textiles and garments, auto parts and telecom equipment. Moldova-bound lots are usually small, so they should be consolidated with Romania-bound cargo to improve utilization. Belly capacity is tight in the European tourist season and at transatlantic peaks, so book ahead.
Narrowbody belly space has strict limits on piece weight and dimensions, so cargo should use standard air cartons or pallets and no single piece should exceed what the narrowbody hold can take. Products with batteries must be declared and packed in isolation under the lithium battery rules. Temperature-controlled cargo on narrowbodies needs passive insulated packing; active temperature-controlled power requires A330 widebody belly with the temperature range and ULD requirements declared in advance.
Live animals and valuables are carried under the general rules for passenger belly space, with acceptance subject to carrier confirmation on the day of booking. Dangerous goods must be declared under the IATA DGR and are limited to the classes the carrier publishes as acceptable. Oversize cargo cannot go into a narrowbody belly and must move on a freighter trunk route to the hub and then by truck.
HiSky has no published directly owned cargo office in China; contact its local agent in China or work through us. HiSky's official website is hisky.aero. Chinese shippers can submit a booking instruction through Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited, which deals with its authorized sales network and hub ground agents to obtain capacity and arrange multi-sector interlining.
We have operations teams at Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai and can book standard trade cargo from China to Romania and Moldova. Shippers confirm commodity, pieces, weight, dimensions, origin gateway, destination country and city and required schedule in a written instruction, and we work out the interline routing and capacity availability and reply with indicative rates and transit time. Instructions involving temperature control, dangerous goods or transatlantic A330 belly must include the relevant assessment and requirement documents so we can confirm acceptance with the carrier in advance.
Disclaimer
Prepared by Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited (Goodhope Freight). Airline names, codes and brand marks mentioned here belong to their respective owners, and our company has no affiliation, agency or investment relationship with the airlines described. The information is compiled from public sources for reference only and does not form a contract of carriage or a commitment. Space, rates and schedules are subject to actual confirmation by the carrier or its authorized agent at the time of booking.
Contact: Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited; website: https://goodhope86.com.
Goodhope and the airline names, trademarks and codes mentioned here belong to their respective owners; The material serves only to describe cargo services.