Kyiv Zhuliany International Airport intends to serve 2.6 million passengers in 2019, which is more than 7% less than in 2018, Denys Kostrzhevsky, the head of the airport’s board of directors, has said. “I won’t say that we have a catastrophic decline in growth rates. Compared to last year, when we transported almost 2.8 million people, this year we expect to service 2.6 million passengers. That is, the decrease in passenger traffic will be about 8%. I even won’t call it a fall, it’s an adjustment. In 2018, Kyiv airport showed an explosive growth – we grew by 52% compared to 2017. This year there will be a drop in passenger traffic. This is not a catastrophic drop,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
At the same time, he noted that in 2020 passenger traffic growth is expected.
“The airline’s plans for scheduled flights are quite conservative and long-term. At present, we already know the airline’s plans for spring-summer navigation, until October 2020,” he added.
According to forecasts announced at the international conference Global Airport Development in Dublin (Ireland), in the medium term the growth rate of passenger traffic in the world will be 5-8% per year.
“In Ukraine, the market is underestimated and underdeveloped due to low purchasing power … We have been slowing down for a long time and now we must catch up with the world figures for the number of flying citizens per capita. All this is closely connected with state policy. If the economic and political situation in the country allow saying that business and the economy are developing steadily, household incomes are growing, respectively, and aviation growth will be large,” he said.
About one million passengers used the services of the Kyiv Boryspil Express train from Kyiv to Boryspil International Airport (Kyiv) over the year, the press service of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia (Kyiv) has reported, with reference to head of the company Yevhen Kravtsov.
“I’m sure no one will argue now that the express train to Boryspil airport is needed. During its first year of operation, it made about 10,000 trips and transported almost one million passengers. And this is the indisputable evidence of success of this project,” Kravtsov said.
The report notes that a record number of passengers was transported in August and September 2019 with 98,200 and 107,600 people respectively. The most popular trains are No. 842 Kyiv-Boryspil at 17:50 and No. 845 Boryspil-Kyiv at 19:17.
According to the head of Ukrzaliznytsia, the company plans to further develop this project. Currently, the reconstruction of the Vydubychi station is nearing completion, where a stop platform for the express train will be built.
“Vydubychi station will turn into a transport hub that will combine bus transportation, railways, subway and air transport. In addition, a diesel train manufactured by Kriukov Car Building Works is expected for this route. And this is an additional 170 seats,” he said.
Over a day, express trains carry out 57 trips and carry 2,500 passengers.
Passenger traffic at Lviv International Airport in January-November 2019 amounted to 2.046 million people, which is 39.3% more than in the same period in 2018, the company’s press service reports on Facebook. The number of flights in January-November reached 17,485 (14,960 international and 2,530 domestic), which is 23.6% more than in January-October last year.
In November-2019, some 173,900 passengers used the airport services (152,500 on international flights, 21,400 on domestic flights), which is 39.2% more than in November 2018. At the same time, the number of flights last month increased by 10%, to 1,358 (1,110 international and 244 domestic).
As reported, Lviv airport in 2018 increased passenger traffic by 48% compared to 2017 – up to 1.598 million people.
Lviv International Airport is located 6 km south of the city center.
Kyiv Zhuliany International Airport in January-November 2019 served 2.414 million passengers, which is 7.4% less than in January-November 2018. According to statistics released by the airport’s press service, the number of passengers served on international flights for the 11 months amounted to almost 2.358 million people, on domestic flights some 56,400 people. The number of flights in January-November 2019 amounted to 25,565 for arrival/departure, which is 8.6% less than in the same period in 2018, in particular, 21,532 international flights, and 4,033 domestic flights.
The most popular international destinations for the indicated period were Minsk (Belarus), Warsaw (Poland), Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt), Rome (Italy), Vienna (Austria), Berlin, Frankfurt (both are Germany); internal Odesa, Zaporizhia, and Lviv.
In November 2019, the airport served 180,100 passengers, which is 1.35% less than in November 2018. The number of passengers served on international flights amounted to 177,500, on domestic flights some 2,600 people.
At the same time, the number of flights in November amounted to 2,029 for arrival/departure, which is 1.3% less than in the same period in 2018, of which 1,764 international and 265 domestic flights.
Azerbaijan’s Buta Airways low cost carrier will operate flights to Kyiv at Boryspil International Airport from January 22, 2020, the airline’s website said. Earlier the airline operated flights to the capital of Ukraine at Kyiv Zhuliany Airport.
As part of the airline’s winter schedule for 2019/2020, which is valid until March 27, Buta Airways flights on the Baku-Kyiv-Baku route are operated three times a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. According to the same schedule, it is planned to continue flights in the summer schedule of 2020.
“Flights to Boryspil are carried out by most Ukrainian and foreign carriers, which will allow Buta Airways passengers to plan more convenient connections with other airlines,” the airline said.
Passengers who have already purchased tickets will be notified in accordance with the airline’s procedure by the phone numbers indicated when purchasing the ticket.
Buta Airways is the first low cost airline in Azerbaijan, a structural unit within Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), founded in December 2016. The first flight was performed on September 1, 2017. The airline fleet consists of modern Embraer aircraft. The airline is based in Baku, at Heydar Aliyev International Airport.
Boryspil International Airport in the third quarter of 2019 and September 2019 ranked second in the ACI Europe rating in terms of passenger traffic growth among the airports intended for 10-25 million passengers per year.
According to data posted on ACI Europe’s website, in September (up by 27.6%) and in the third quarter (25.8% more), Boryspil airport ranked second following Milan airport (Italy) with a rise of 33.5% and 26.2% respectively.
In addition, Kharkiv International Airport was included in the top five ranking on the dynamics of passenger traffic growth among the airports for less than 5 million passengers. In September (66.3% more) it ranked second after Maribor Airport (Slovenia) with an increase of 92%, in the third quarter (up by 42.1%) following Targu Mures Airport (Romania, 113.5% more), Ohrid (Northern Macedonia, 53.8% more), and Turku (Finland, 52% more).
ACI Europe monthly compiles a rating of airports by passenger traffic, analyzing data from more than 230 European airports.
Airports Council International (ACI) is the only global airport sales office in the world. It is divided into branches: ACI Europe, ACI Africa, ACI Asia, ACI Latin American/Caribbean, ACI North America, and ACI Pacific.
