Ryanair boss plans to resume Ukraine flights within six weeks of end of conflict
Ryanair boss plans to resume Ukraine flights within six weeks of end of conflict
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Flights could take off for Kyiv within six weeks of a ceasefire, said the budget airline’s CEO. Ryanair is planning to resume flights to and from Ukraine in the hope that Donald Trump will successfully encourage a ceasefire with Russia. The airline CEO is optimistic that US president Donald Trump will be able to help negotiate a ceasefire with Russia “this year” to end the war in Ukraine and recover the airspace for commercial flights.
Donald Trump’s pre-election promises to end the war in Ukraine in less than 24 hours have so far proved unsuccessful. The administration’s new goal is to stop the fighting in 100 days with possible Russian “taxes, tariffs, and sanctions” if a deal is not reached. According to the airline, up to 24 routes serving Kyiv and Lviv could open if fighting is formally halted and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) lift restrictions.
Mr O’Leary said the two Ukrainian aviation hubs were “ready to go” with functional baggage carousels. The return of flights to the war-torn cities of Odesa and Kherson will likely take off later on. The budget Irish carrier has committed to resuming flights as soon as it is safe to do so since the conflict escalated in 2022. In 2023, Mr O’Leary travelled by train to meet the deputy prime minister and the boss of the city’s main airport, Boryspil, in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
Ryanair was Ukraine’s second-largest airline after the national carrier, Ukraine International, before the Russian invasion in February 2022. The airline said in a previous statement: “Once the skies over Ukraine have reopened for commercial aviation, Ryanair will charge back into Ukraine linking the main Ukraine airports with over 20 EU capitals, and we are working closely with the Ukrainian government to rebuild Ukraine’s aviation, industry and its economy.”.
