EU airline wants to resume flights to Ukraine
Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air has announced plans to swiftly resume flights to Ukraine once a ceasefire with Russia is established.
Speaking at the Logistics as a Driver of Economic Growth conference on Tuesday, CEO Jozsef Varadi spoke of the airline’s plans for Ukraine, emphasizing the potential of the country’s market.
“We have a firm plan for the restart of Ukraine, because I think it can happen any moment,” Varadi stated. “Once a ceasefire is announced, then we would look at our restart,” he added.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) estimates that reopening Ukrainian airspace could take six to eight weeks after a ceasefire is declared. The chief executive said the airline is preparing to align its operations with this timeline to ensure a prompt return.
According to Varandi, the carrier plans to restart operating bases in Kiev and Lviv, aiming to supply an annualized capacity of about 5 million seats a year to the Ukrainian market across 60 routes.
In 2021, the low-cost airline was third in the Ukrainian market with a 10% share, according to the Independent. Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian flights on February 24, 2022 when the conflict with Russia escalated, citing the high risk to flight safety due to the active fighting.
The optimism about a potential ceasefire comes amid a broader diplomatic push by Russia and the US to end the Ukraine conflict. Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has begun talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky about reaching a peace agreement. This has been followed by several rounds of negotiations between Russian and American officials.
