Businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky’s UFuture Group plans to complete the renovation and expansion of Terminal A, which is the main terminal of Kyiv Sikorsky International Airport (Zhuliany), from 14,000 to 23,500 square meters by May 2019, the project is estimated at UAH 630 million.
“We are building a new [terminal] not to increase the number of passengers, but to create comfort for those who fly,” the businessman said at a press conference on Thursday, explaining that often one time slot at the airport can be shared by seven low-cost airlines.
He says the airport’s throughput capacity, which is about 700 people per hour, can double.
Construction works at the airport began two months ago, Chairman of the airport’s Board of Directors Denys Kostrzhevsky said. The runway will not be closed for the period of the works at the terminal.
“The existing runway is good enough, its warranty is valid. We are not going to overhaul it, sometimes we fix something, improving some processes,” Khmelnytsky said.
Both own reinvested funds of the managing company and loans are the source of financing of the works, Kostrzhevsky said.
Khmelnytsky says that the payback period of investment in the expansion of Terminal A is expected to be from eight to nine years. UFuture invested more than UAH 2.5 billion in the airport’s complex in seven years.
He also said that he was considering the possibility of building a low-priced hotel and hangars next to Terminal A, but it might happen no earlier than the end of its reconstruction.
“Our resources are not unlimited. First, we will build the terminal. I hope we will launch it. It will give us a little more income, and we will make estimates proceeding from this,” Khmelnytsky said.
UFuture Investment Group, headquartered in Brussels, was established in autumn 2017 and united the business projects of Vasyl Khmelnytsky. The group includes the Ukrainian development company UDP, whose specialization is the implementation of large infrastructure projects. In addition, the conglomerate united businesses in such areas as UDP Renewables, the Bila Tserkva industrial park, the innovation parks UNIT.City, and LvivTech.City.
Kyiv Sikorsky International Airport is located in the business center of the capital, seven km from the city center. It is the second largest airport in Ukraine in terms of the number of flights and passenger traffic. The airport has three terminals with a total area being 21,000 square meters. The airport’s runway is able to handle B-737 and A-320 aircraft.
In the nine months of 2018, the airport serviced 2.165 million passengers, which was 57.3% up on January-September 2017. In September 2018 alone, passenger traffic grew by 30.6%, to 307,500 people.
Master-Avia LLC began managing the airport after winning a tender in 2010 and leasing airport property for 49 years.
Khmelnytsky and Kostrzhevsky are the beneficiaries of Master-Avia LLC, according to the state register of legal entities of entrepreneurs, are businessmen. Master-Avia indicates it owns terminals and the apron, while the airfield and the runway are on the balance sheet of municipally owned Kyiv International Airport (Zhuliany).
AIRPORT, KYIV, RECONSTRUCTION, SIKORSKY, TERMINAL, UFUTURE, VASYL KHMELNYTSKY'S
