Michael O’Leary the CEO of Ryanair has said their proposal to reopen Kyiv and Lviv airports in Ukraine has been met with “radio silence.”
O’Leary has said reopening the airports is vital to Ukraine’s economy and that “somebody gives the airports a kick up the backside,” as he calls remain unanswered for two years.
O’Leary said at the Kyiv conference “We Build Ukraine” that restarting flights to Kyiv and Lviv is vital to rebuild the economy in Ukraine and there has been discussions over opening Lviv airport possibly by summer this year.
The Kyiv Independent reported, O’Leary said, “But disappointingly, we haven’t heard back from them for over two years.
“I am somewhat at a loss to understand why the airports are not getting ready for the resumption of flights and why the airports are not doing the agreement with Ryanair.”
The Ukrainian government has said they are “95%” ready to reopen the airports, but without the proper defences this would be “impractical” whilst Russia‘s war against Ukraine is still ongoing.
The general director of Lviv’s Danylo Halytskyi International Airport could reopen for commercial flights between April and May or even during the summer months.
Tetiana Romanovska told Vysokyi Zamok media outlet that up to seven airlines have expressed interest in starting operations within a month of Lviv airport opening.
The Ukrainian government is also looking into reopening another airport in the West of the country in Uzhhorod which is on the border with Slovakia and close to Poland and Hungary who are all part of NATO.
Romanovska said that SkyUp, Austrian Airlines, LOT, Lufthansa, Air Baltic, Turkish Airlines and Wizz Air have all said they are prepared to start operations from Lviv when flights are allowed to resume.
The director general said, “SkyUP will likely take the lead in bringing back charter flights, as they have a well-developed route network in Europe and are ready to resume the same routes from Lviv or another Ukrainian city,” the Kyiv Independent reported.
