Plans to bring Europe’s largest low-cost carrier into Ukraine are still up in the air, despite reports of a done deal between Lviv International Airport and Ryanair.
According to Ukrainian
media, Ryanair is expected to start flying from Lviv Danylo Halytskyi
International Airport in 2017 but there is no confirmation from either
side.
A Ryanair spokesperson
said “while we are always interested in new routes, we do not comment upon, or
engage in, rumour or speculation.”
A Lviv Danylo Halytskyi
International Airport spokesperson said, regarding Ryanair, they could not
confirm anything for certain because they were still at the negotiations stage.
“Nevertheless, we eagerly
await this carrier- it will attract many passengers,” the spokesperson said.
Carriers Belavia and low-cost airline Wizz Air, which already operate out of
other cities in Ukraine, are however expected to return to Lviv.
Belavia plans to start
flying from Minsk to Lviv four times a week from Aug. 17.
AirBaltic may also return to Lviv, with the carrier currently evaluating the city’s airport as part of its plan to establish new routes once it receives its new fleet of aircrafts.
The Lviv airport
spokesperson said they were optimistic the return of Wizz Air would attract
other low cost carriers.
“Experience shows that
once one large low-cost carrier comes, others follow,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s
Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan reportedly stated that low cost
carrier Wizz Air may also return to Ukraine in its full capacity as early as
this year.
Wizz Air closed its
Ukrainian offices last year due to a poor economic climate, cancelling more
than half a dozen flights and transferring the remaining eight to Hungarian
division of Wizz Air.
The Kyiv Post did not
immediately receive a response from Wizz Air.
Omelyan also stated
that American airlines have also expressed interest in expanding their
operations to Ukraine.
Czech Airlines was among
the group of carriers reported to be returning to Lviv next year however a
spokesman for the company said there were no plans to resume flying to or from
the city’s international airport.
