It was founded by Alain Skowronek (Chairman) and Christian Mandl (Chief Executive) and financed by EBRD, ABN AMRO and EU funds.

[8] The IPO on the Vienna and Warsaw stock exchanges was the first by a central European low-cost carrier and the first by any Slovak company.

On 10 November 2005, investment bank CA-IB, member of HVB Group, issued a buy recommendation with target price 6.5 EUR.

The bank assumed that first-mover advantage, a term often used during the previous dot-com bubble,[10] would "provide competitive edge".

[11] In 2006, SkyEurope announced it would cut ticket prices to minus 10 koruna, claiming to become the first airline that pays people for flying with it.

The airline opened a base at Vienna International Airport in March 2007, placing two new 737-700s operating sixteen routes.

[22][23] The airline owed €25 million as a bridge loan to hedge fund York Global Finance II, due on 15 July 2009.

[24] On 8 January 2009, leasing company GECAS ordered SkyEurope to return six Boeing aircraft due to financial problems.

[26] On 11 August 2009, SkyEurope was not allowed to fly into Vienna International Airport due to unpaid landing fees.

[28] Due to passengers being stranded, Irish airline Ryanair announced on 1 September 2009 that they had launched rescue fares from Bratislava to Alicante, Barcelona (Girona), Brussels (Charleroi), Rome (Ciampino), Liverpool and London (Stansted).

[29] Malév Hungarian Airlines also accepted people holding SkyEurope tickets on their flights for a discounted price.

Malév was offering one-way travel options to a total of 12 cities for all those who held a SkyEurope air ticket and were unable to board their flight because of the bankruptcy proceedings launched against the company.

[36] According to released Preliminary results for FY 2008, "material uncertainties exist regarding the ability of SkyEurope Holding to continue as going concern".

[47] At the end of FY 2008, SkyEurope had agreements with GECAS and Dubai Aerospace Enterprise for the operating lease of twelve Boeing 737 aircraft.

At 30 September 2008, the Company failed to comply with stipulated financial covenants, such as liquidity and net worth thresholds.