The so-called Western hub project to develop transportation by Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) from the Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk airports have not yet been implemented due to some reasons, Head of the UIA Supervisory Board Aron Mayberg said at a press conference at the Boryspil international airport last week. “We considered several options. We really discussed Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv. Ivano-Frankivsk has problems with infrastructure. It seems to us that Lviv sees itself more as an airport that will develop according to the point-to-point model and, in addition, our expectations that the domestic market will develop faster do not inspire confidence,” he said.
Therefore, according to Mayberg, while the main efforts the company applies to the development of the main hub in Ukraine on the basis of the Boryspil airport.
“But we continue to look closely at the West, as the western region of Ukraine is developing. There is a large number of people who use planes, and it is difficult for us to carry them to the West via Kyiv,” he said.
Asked about the development of flights through the Dnipro airport, Mayberg said that UIA would like to see this airport developing, improving infrastructure and presenting its long-term development plans.
“Today this is one of the possible bastions of Eastern Ukraine, where you can develop. After we lost the opportunity to develop in Donetsk, it could be an alternative. We believe, we hope that this will happen,” Mayberg said.
Ukraine International Airlines was founded in 1992. It connects Ukraine with more than 80 cities and key points in Europe, Asia, America, Africa, the Middle East and the CIS countries and provides interlining with the routes of partner airlines in more than 3,000 cities of the world. UIA performs more than 1,100 regular flights a week.
