Passenger traffic at Kyiv Boryspil International Airport increased by more than 10% to 534,000 air travelers in March compared with the same time period last year, the airport reported on April 7.
Last month, 494,300 international travelers passed through Boryspil International Airport, a 9.2% increase from last March. Domestic passenger traffic grew to 40,100 travelers, an 18.6% increase.
The airport acknowledged that the March-May period in 2020 was “most difficult.” Regular flights were suspended and the airport only served special flights.
Ukraine went into a nationwide lockdown a few weeks after the first coronavirus case was identified in the country on March 3, 2020. Borders were closed and the government chartered special transportation to bring home Ukrainians who were stuck abroad.
The aviation industry was hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic and shows few signs of recovery.
Passenger traffic was extremely low during the first two months of the lockdown in 2020, which may explain the increase in passenger traffic in March this year.
Right now the most popular destination for people who travel through Kyiv Boryspil International Airport is Sharm El Sheikh, a resort town in Egypt on the coast of the Red Sea.
Another beach resort town in Egypt, Hurghada, is the second most visited locale for the airport’s passengers. Istanbul in Turkey, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Belarus’s capital Minsk rounded out the top five destinations.
Viktor Logvinenko, a former Sales & Traffic Officer at Turkish Airlines, said the Ukrainian aviation industry is doing “more or less okay” but demand for air travel won’t reach pre-pandemic levels until 2024.
Once the lockdown is lifted and the economy stabilizes, there will be more air travelers in Ukraine, according to Logvinenko. When the economy improves, Ukrainians will earn more and traveling will be more affordable, he said.
A travel metasearch engine showed a 40% drop in the number of flights booked online in 2020 compared to 2019, but the new consumer tendency to purchase tickets from offline travel agencies also needs to be taken into context, Logvinenko explained.
The aviation expert predicts that the number of passengers will rise during the summer season starting in May, but “still not be close to the results from 2019.” He expects a 15-20% increase in the number of air travelers in the next few months compared to the 2020 season before the passenger traffic decreases again starting in the fall.
“It is still a difficult time for aviation companies,” Logvinenko told the Kyiv Post.
During the first quarter of 2021, Boryspil International Airport served 1.2 million passengers, 50.5% fewer than the same period in 2020 and 66% fewer than in March 2019.
