Kyiv, Lviv airports not cooperating on reopening plans, Ryanair CEO says

Ryanair's proposals to set the stage for the resumption of commercial flights in Ukraine have been met with "radio silence" for two years, the airline's CEO, Michael O'Leary, said on March 25.

The restart of flights is vital for rebuilding Ukraine's economy, a process that cannot start unless "somebody gives the airports a kick up the backside," O'Leary said in a video address to a Kyiv conference organized by the analytical center "We Build Ukraine" and attended by the Kyiv Independent.

Ukraine closed its skies for commercial flights at the outbreak of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Discussions have been ongoing about the possible reopening of some airports in major cities like Kyiv or Lviv later this year as the U.S. pushes for a ceasefire.

O'Leary said that in July 2023, Ryanair submitted a proposal to the airports in the western city of Lviv and Boryspil near Kyiv that would see the company "deliver 5 million passengers to Ukraine within the first year of the skies reopening over Ukraine and grow that from 5 to 10 million passengers within five years."

"But disappointingly, we haven't heard back from them for over two years," the CEO said.

"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."

Without a cost agreement with the airports, the airliner would be able to deliver only about 1-1.5 million passengers instead of 5 million in the first year after the war, while the number of Kyiv routes would drop from 50 to 20, O'Leary said.

O'Leary added that meetings with the airports' management are expected later this week in Warsaw. He named the cost agreement with the airports and the safety of civilian travel as key conditions for Ryanair to resume flights in Ukraine.

Lviv’s Danylo Halytskyi International Airport's general director said earlier this month that flights could restart as early as April or May, according to an optimistic scenario under government consideration.

Director Tetiana Romanovska said that the Lviv airport is in talks with Wizz Air, Air Baltic, Turkish Airlines, SkyUp, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, and LOT on the possible flight resumption.

The Ukrainian government claimed it is "95%" ready to reopen its skies but said resuming flights without sufficient air defenses would be "impractical" as long as the war is ongoing.