Resumption of flights to Ukraine: whose planes want to make the first air connections
Kyiv • UNN
Wizz Air, Ryanair and AirBaltic are planning to resume flights to Ukraine. Wizz Air has developed a plan for 100 routes, Ryanair is preparing a five-year recovery plan, and AirBaltic wants to be the first.
Several airlines have expressed interest in resuming flights to Ukraine after the opening of Ukrainian airspace. In particular, Wizz Air has developed a plan to open 100 routes in the first six months after the opening of air traffic, which will allow transporting 5 million passengers per year. In turn, Ryanair has prepared a five-year plan to resume flights in Ukraine. The Baltic carrier AirBaltic has an ambitious plan - it wants to be the first to fly to Ukraine, writes UNN.
Wizz Air
Today, Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varadi, speaking at the conference "Logistics as a driver of economic growth", said that the company has developed a plan to open 100 routes in the first six months after the opening of Ukrainian airspace, which will allow transporting 5 million passengers per year.
As soon as Ukraine is ready to resume all flights... we are not only considering flights to Ukraine, but also flights from Ukraine. We believe that Ukraine's potential is huge, and there will be significant traffic. We have developed a plan to create a network of about 100 routes in the first 6 months, which will create a capacity of 5 million seats per year. And when you are ready, we will be ready.
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He also noted that Wizz Air representatives have been to Ukraine several times and held talks with interested parties, including Ukrainian airports.
"We have had quite active discussions with representatives of Lviv and Kyiv airports. We are very close to concluding commercial agreements with each of them. I think we are ready," Varadi added.
Earlier, Varadi said that Wizz Air plans to resume flights to Ukraine within six weeks after the ceasefire. The company intends to restore bases in Kyiv and Lviv, offering 5 million seats per year.
"We have a clear plan to resume flights to Ukraine, because I think it can happen at any moment. As soon as a ceasefire is announced, we will consider resuming," Varadi said.
Ryanair
At the same time, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary told the Logistics as a Driver of Economic Growth conference today about the "silence" in negotiations with Ukrainian airports, which may lead the airline to cut its flight recovery program from Ukraine.
Together, we have made quite ambitious plans to provide 5 million passenger traffic after the first year, and grow to 10 million within 5 years, which will be faster growth than we had in Poland. We submitted a 5-year growth plan to the airports, both Boryspil and Lviv. Unfortunately, nothing more has been achieved in these 2 years. And I do not understand why the airports are not preparing to resume flights, and why the airports are not doing enough to comply with the agreement with Ryanair, despite constant reminders to both Boryspil and Lviv, as well as Odesa.
He noted that the company "hears nothing" from the airports for the past two years, so it would like to meet with the management of the airports. According to him, he currently has a scheduled meeting with the commercial director of Boryspil, which is scheduled to take place this week, as well as representatives of Lviv Airport.
"In order to reach 10 million passengers in Ukraine, we need to open up, ensure a safe sky, that is, so that aviation can function, and we hope that the war will end soon. Secondly, we need an agreement with the airports that will allow us to provide this so-called radical, aggressive plan. Today we have planes at 95 airports in Europe, so we plan that we will be able to return something to the airports of Kyiv and Lviv within 6 weeks, after the sky is opened. We will do everything to make this happen, but we cannot do it until we have an agreement on expenses with the airports, we cannot do it alone," O'Leary adds.
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He stressed that if the company does not reach an agreement with the airports on costs, it is ready to resume flights to Ukraine anyway, but on a much smaller scale.
"We will start flights to Kyiv airports and partly to Lviv, but instead of 5 million in the first year, we will be able to provide much less... maybe 1 million passengers," O'Leary notes.
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In February, O'Leary told The Telegraph that Ryanair is developing a plan that will allow flights to begin within four to six weeks after the end of the war.
"I very much hope that this will happen this year. I believe that one of the things that Trump can hopefully do is to resolve the issue of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine early," O'Leary said.
According to him, Ryanair plans to open about 24 routes to Kyiv and Lviv. Capacity will be provided by redirecting aircraft based at airports such as Stansted and Paris-Orly to serve the cities.
However, he stressed that restoring connections with Odesa may take longer due to the level of damage, while some hubs in the east and south were "bombed to hell" and virtually destroyed.
Including the airport in Kherson, where Ryanair used to fly. The city suffered serious damage after being captured by Russian forces at the beginning of the conflict and then recaptured by Ukrainian forces.
At the end of February, O'Leary told Reuters that Ryanair plans to carry 2 million passengers in the first six weeks after the opening of the sky in Ukraine. The company intends to open bases in Kyiv and Lviv, increasing passenger traffic to 5 million within a year or two.
We will have 2 million seats within six weeks (after the opening of the sky), and I think we will want to open bases in Kyiv and Lviv within 12 months, and then I think we will be able to increase the number of passengers from 2 to 5 million within a year or two.
According to him, the return to some other airports in Ukraine may take longer due to greater damage from the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine. According to him, the airline wants to have 6-8 routes to Ukraine from Poland.
AirBaltic
A few days ago, the CEO of the Baltic airline AirBaltic, Martin Gauss, stated that the carrier is ready to resume routes to Kyiv and Lviv, and wants to be the first company to do so.
We strive to be the first airline to operate flights from the Baltic countries to Kyiv. Our team was in Kyiv, discussing the opening of the route with the government and representatives of Boryspil Airport
According to him, these flights will be operated from the capital airports of the Baltic countries, while previously they were operated only from Riga. In addition, according to him, if all goes according to plan, after the opening of airspace, travelers from the capital of Latvia will be able to fly to Lviv.
"We plan to use Riga as a hub. Flights from there will be operated even more widely. (...) On the very first day when flights are operating, travelers from the capitals of the Baltic countries will be able to fly to Kyiv and back, and those flying from Riga will be able to fly to Lviv," Gauss noted.
AirBaltic flies to nearly 130 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus from Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Tampere and, seasonally, from Gran Canaria.
SkyUp Airline
The Ukrainian company announced its readiness to resume flights with Ukraine 3-4 weeks after the official opening of airspace.
SkyUp CEO Dmytro Seroukhov in an interview with Forbes, noted that active discussions and preparations are already underway at the international level. However, the final decision will depend not only on Ukraine, but also on international aviation and security structures.
For us, returning to Ukraine is returning home, not entering a new market. We have a base, infrastructure and personnel ready to work immediately after the opening of the sky. If the airspace is opened tomorrow, we will be able to launch the first flights in 3-4 weeks
Earlier
Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development Timur Tkachenko, and now the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, noted that although state authorities are considering the possibility of partially opening Ukrainian airspace, this is unlikely in the short term. Special attention is paid to the possible resumption of operation of airports in Boryspil and Lviv, which are key for passenger transportation. Tkachenko also stressed that comparing the situation in Ukraine with Israel, where the air defense system works effectively, is not entirely correct, since Ukraine has not yet reached the required level of defense. Therefore, in his opinion, it is too early to talk about the partial opening of airspace.
At the end of October last year, Ukraine presented a roadmap for opening airspace under martial law, presenting a step-by-step plan and needs for the partial opening of airspace.
In February, the management of Boryspil Airport held talks with Wizz Air in Budapest regarding the resumption of air service. The low-cost airline has a large-scale plan to return to Ukraine and plans to restore bases in Kyiv and Lviv.
"Resumption of passenger air service is possible only if the airspace is opened. The key factor for this remains the security factor. At the same time, it is important to maintain aviation infrastructure and personnel qualifications in proper condition, so that when the security situation allows, passenger air transportation can be opened as soon as possible. The main topic was the operational launch of air transportation from the capital airport "Boryspil" after the opening of airspace. The top management of the airport meaningfully informed the managers of the airline about the operational readiness of the airport, the condition of the infrastructure, airfield, terminals, aircraft ground handling equipment, measures to maintain certification requirements, personnel qualifications and security," the airport's press service said.
