Ukraine has no plans to close its airspace to civil aviation, as there are no grounds for this, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov has said.
“We do not close our airspace, and we are not going to close today, and there are no grounds for this. As for some companies that lease aircraft and reinsure themselves. First of all, it is connected with the Netherlands. You remember when Russia shot down MH17 in Donetsk region. They are reinsured today. I emphasize once again: we do not see this, we will not close it,” Danilov told reporters after a meeting with representatives of the Verkhovna Rada on Monday.
Some 29,048 flights were performed in the airspace of Ukraine in August 2021, which is 76% of the August volume of pre-crisis 2019 flights, the press service of the Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE) reported.
According to it, Ukrainian airlines performed 10,505 flights in August 2021 (10.2% less compared to August 2019), foreign airlines carried out 18,543 flights (30.1% less).
In total, over the past month, 3,516 domestic flights (17.7% more than in the corresponding period of 2019) and 14,595 international flights (12.3% less), as well as 10,937 transit flights (41.2% less) were operated.
“The dynamics of the number of flights in the airspace of Ukraine in 2021: July – 26,952 flights, June – 21,113 flights, May – 16,986 flights, April – 13,661 flights, March – 12,160 flights, February – 8,758 flights, January – 9,842 flights,” UkSATSE reports.
The department explained that the increase in the number of flights in the Ukrainian sky is associated, in particular, with the spread of vaccination in the country and the world, the opening of the borders of foreign countries, the restoration of the confidence of air passengers in travel and the traditional growth in demand for air travel during the tourist season.
“It is important to note the positive dynamics of the intensity of flights in the international airspace, which is under the responsibility of Ukraine, namely in the western part of the Simferopol flight information region, the so-called green zone. In August, 80% more flights were performed on these routes with special flight planning procedures compared to July of this year, and three times more than in June,” head of UkSATSE Andriy Yarmak said.
According to him, this is facilitated by the new air navigation rate for air navigation services, established by the Ministry of Infrastructure from June 1, 2021, as well as proactive work with domestic and international airlines.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) has decided to stop flying through Afghan airspace on flights to Delhi (India) as crisis in this country has aggravated.
“Back on [last] Friday, the airline conducted its own assessment of the risks of flying above the territory of Afghanistan in connection with the current situation in the country. Taking into account the identified increase in the level of threat to flights, UIA decided to changed course and exited Afghanistan’s airspace on flights to Delhi to ensure an adequate security of flights,” the airline told Interfax-Ukraine.
UIA said that these flights were operated under the Air Bubbles agreement on Tuesdays and Sundays; due to the charge of the course, the flight time will increase by about two hours. Previously, it was about seven hours.
To date, a number of international airlines have already decided to reroute flights out of the airspace of Afghanistan.
Kabul International Airport on Sunday suspended servicing commercial flights, the Associated Press reported on the evening of the same day, citing representatives of the U.S. forces.
At the same time, the evacuation from Kabul secured by the U.S. forces continues.
In June 2021, some 21,113 flights were performed in the airspace of Ukraine, which is 59.6% of the June volume of flights in the pre-crisis 2019, the press service of the State Air Traffic Service Enterprise (UkSATSE) said on Wednesday.
According to UkSATSE, the absolute value of the number of flights in May of this year increased, the dynamics can also be called positive – the indicators for May were less: 56.6% of the number of flights in the same period of 2019.
According to UkSATSE, the increase in the intensity of flights is due to the beginning of the tourist season, the gradual opening of the borders of foreign countries, the restoration of a number of international flights to Europe suspended due to the pandemic, and the entry of new air carriers into the Ukrainian aviation market.
“An important impetus for the revitalization of transit in the Ukrainian sky was also the revision of the rates for air navigation services over the Black Sea. New air navigation rates began to operate on June 1 of this year, at which the cost of a 100 km flight is EUR 25 instead of EUR 51.1. First of all, Ukrainian airlines revised their plans of flights in the southern and southeastern directions with Ukraine and resumed flights in the Simferopol flight information region,” the press service quoted head of UkSATSE Andriy Yarmak as saying.
He also said that UkSATSE is actively working to attract foreign carriers to operate flights in this part of the Ukrainian airspace.
Ukrainian airlines performed 8,953 flights in June 2021 (20% less compared to June 2019), foreign airlines performed 12,160 flights (49.8% less).
The bilateral agreement on the use of the Slovak airspace by the international airport Uzhgorod will be in effect from June 5, said Prime Minister of Slovakia Eduard Heger.
“There are still some technical measures and procedures to be put in place and you simply cannot make shortcuts. It is about safety and established mechanisms in the air transportation, not about politics. I was informed that all the process will be finished in September,” Heger said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government has banned aircraft registered in Belarus from using Ukraine’s airspace from midnight on May 29.
“The government has approved the official instruction of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE) to ban aircraft registered in the Republic of Belarus from using the airspace of Ukraine from midnight on May 29,” a government source told Interfax-Ukraine.
