Zaporizhia and Lviv international airports, the Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE), Azur Air Ukraine and SkyUp Airlines have sent a joint letter to the president, the prime minister and the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine with a request for state support for the aviation industry amid pandemic.
“Already today, judging by the losses incurred by the entire aviation market, it is possible to predict not only a complicated recovery process, but also the non-return of many participants to work in principle. The industry itself may be in danger of extinction,” the report says.
The companies note a serious lack of resources for fulfilling financial obligations to pay wages, service loans, make lease payments, under agreements with foreign partners, etc.
The airlines have compiled a list of measures adapted to Ukrainian realities that, in their opinion, must be taken to preserve the aviation industry. In particular, they ask to provide the industry with irrevocable financial assistance for the payment of wage arrears and tax holidays for taxes paid in connection with its payment. In addition, they ask for targeted, non-repayable assistance to pay off debts that have formed since the quarantine began in the country for services provided to aviation businesses by state enterprises and organizations.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) resumes regular flights between Kyiv and Odesa on June 5.According to the company’s press service, flights from Kyiv will be carried out on June 5 and 6, and in the opposite direction on June 8 and June 9.
According to the data in the UIA reservation system, the cost of one ticket with baggage is from UAH 1,500.
The airline asks passengers to adhere to the quarantine rules, to carry personal protective equipment, masks, and also to remember the need to maintain a social distance at the airport.
As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine decided to launch domestic flights from June 5, and international flights from June 15.
Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air and German Lufthansa plan to resume flights from Ukraine in late May or early June.
The relevant information is available in the booking systems of the airlines.
In particular, Wizz Air has opened booking tickets for flights from Kyiv, Zaporizhia, Lviv, Odesa and Kharkiv since May 23. Most flights will start to operate in June.
Lufthansa has opened booking flights from Kyiv to Berlin since June.
Earlier, the resumption of direct flights from Ukraine was announced by Czech national airline Czech Airlines, namely, from Prague to Kyiv and Odesa at the end of May 2020.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) plans to start the usual mode of dialog with passengers in one month, UIA President Yevhen Dykhne has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“I won’t tell you the exact number how many passenger requests have been handled right now. Since the termination of flights, we have about 27,000 requests pending response. And almost the same number arrived at UIA client communication platforms in the early days of this period,” he said.
According to Dykhne, the additional difficulty with handling passenger requests is that UIA is forced to quit the usual work through call centers under quarantine conditions.
“Most often, call centers are built on open space technology and work in them does not comply with quarantine conditions. Therefore, our own call center and the external call centers that serviced us were closed. We switched to e-mailing and messaging with passengers,” the president of UIA said.
A total of up to 150 people in the airline is involved in e-mailing and messaging with passengers. In one working day, this number ranges from 60 to 110, as such employees work remotely, while in the call center up to 600 employees of the airline worked simultaneously at the peak hours.
“Today, we handle up to 2,000 requests a day, but it’s still 90% less than it is being received. I think that we will need another month of work in order to get into the usual dialogue with passengers, not all-hands work, because mailing and messaging, of course, is a longer process than voice calls,” he said.
Ukrainian Airlines SkyUp (Kyiv) has changed the flight program to Italy and Israel amid spreading of the coronavirus (COVID-9) epidemic, the press service of the company said.
“In view of spreading of the COVID-19 as well as toughening of the measures to limit it to the different countries, in particular Italy and Israel, SkyUp Airlines is reducing its flight program to these countries,” reads the statement.
In some areas, the start of the flight program is postponed to the beginning of summer, and in some areas the number of flights will be cut.
According to the airlines, on the route Lviv – Tel Aviv flights with a departure on March 19, 26, 30, April 2, 6, 13 will be canceled. Flights on the Zaporozhzhia – Tel Aviv route with a departure on March 15, 22 and 29, April 5 and 12 will also be canceled.
In addition, the flight program on the Kharkiv-Tel Aviv route, the start of which was scheduled for March 29, is completely canceled.
Besides, SkyUp postponed the start of flights from Kyiv to Rome, Bergamo, Bologna and Pisa – on June 1, 2020; from Kyiv to Bari – on May 1; from Lviv to Rome and Bergamo – on June 1.
At the same time, flights to Naples will continue unchanged.
The start of flights to Rimini and Lamezia Terme, scheduled for May 30, as well as to Catania (early May 26), remains unchanged.
The airlines also noted that tickets for canceled flights could be exchanged free of charge for other dates or receive a full refund. In case of flight cancellation, the airline will provide a free date change or a full refund of the ticket price.
If a passenger wishes to cancel the trip to Israel for personal reasons, SkyUp will provide a free date change.
Passengers who have purchased tickets for flights Kharkov – Tel Aviv – Kharkiv will be offered a free change of the place of departure / arrival to Zaporizhia instead of Kharkiv or a full refund of the cost of the ticket.
Earlier, on the evening of March 12, Israel imposed restrictions on foreigners arriving in the country. Entry will be permitted only to those who confirm the ability to provide 14-day home quarantine.
Since March 10, Italy due to a sharp outbreak of coronavirus incidence, has imposed a ban on public gatherings, canceled sporting events, and banned movement inside the country without good reason.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) in connection with information on coronavirus spread offers passengers who have flights to Italy and a number of other countries in March-April 2020 to change the departure date for free, the company’s press service has said.
“To date, there are no any prohibitions on the termination of air traffic with Italy received from international or national competent authorities. In this regard, UIA continues to fly to Italian cities, namely, to Rome, Milan and Venice according to the plan. The airline understands that some passengers who planned their trips to/from Italy in March and April may be concerned about this situation. Thus, UIA offers the opportunity to change the departure date free of charge within the tickets’ validity (if there are free seats in the initial booking class),” reads the statement.
The offer concerns flights from Ukraine to Italy, Germany and Switzerland; from Italy to India, Turkey and Egypt; from Italy, Austria, Spain, France, Germany and Switzerland to Israel and applies to the transit flights through Ukraine to Italy.
All additional services are automatically transferred to the next flight. Tickets are returned in accordance with the rules of the applicable fare.
“Now we are receiving single requests for changing the departure date, there are no mass refusals of passengers to fly to Italian cities, flight loading remains high. Many airlines reduce or even cancel flights to Italy. We understand how important it is to maintain air traffic between countries and economies in this situation. For our part, to make sure the safety of the flights of our passengers and crews, we take all possible measures and follow the appeal issued in the IATA press release, namely do our job consistently and professionally, without panic,” Yevhenia Satska, UIA Communications Director, said.
