The Belarusian airline Belavia has cancelled all flights to Ukraine until August 25, 2021, Belavia said in a statement on its website.
“Due to the ban of the Ukrainian authorities on Belavia flights, the airline is forced to cancel flights to/from Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, and Kharkiv from May 26 to August 25, 2021,” Belavia said.
On May 25, night flights to Kyiv and Odesa were also canceled, it said.
“Passengers who purchased tickets on the indicated dates will be able to refund their full price without penalties or change the date of departure during the validity period of the ticket,” the airline said.
Ukraine suspended air traffic with Belarus on May 26.
A Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was forced to land at the Minsk airport while passing through Belarus’ airspace on May 23.
On President Alexander Lukashenko’s orders, Belarus scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet to accompany it. The Ryanair plane was carrying Raman Pratasevich, former editor-in-chief of Nexta and editor of Belarus Golovnogo Mozga (Belarus of the Brain), Telegram channels that are both designated as extremist in Belarus, and his companion, Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen and a student of European Humanities University in Vilnius. Both were detained by the Belarusian authorities.
The European Union and the United States have condemned the forced landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk, demanding that Pratasevich be released.
Minsk, in turn, said that an email message about a bomb allegedly planted on the Ryanair plane en route from Athens to Vilnius had been signed by “Hamas soldiers.”
The State Aviation Service of Ukraine has granted the new Ukrainian airline Bees Airline the rights to operate the Kyiv – Lviv – Kyiv, Kyiv – Odesa – Kyiv and Kyiv – Kherson – Kyiv airlines. Order of the State Aviation Service No. 655 dated April 26, 2021 was published on its website.
According to the document, the frequency of these flights and the duration of the rights are not limited.
As reported, the State Aviation Service of Ukraine issued an operator certificate to Bees Airline on March 12, 2021. Later, the regulator allowed the company to operate flights on 31 routes – 15 regular and 16 charter flights.
Bees Airline made its first charter flight from Kyiv to Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt) by order of the tour operator Tez Tour Ukraine on March 18, 2021.
According to the public register of civil aircraft of Ukraine, Bees Airline registered two aircraft in Ukraine – Boeing 737-800 with registration numbers UR-UBA and UR-UBB. Both aircraft are produced in 2010 and belong to San Clemente Leasing LLC (the United States).
According to Bees Airline CEO Yevhen Khainatsky, by the end of 2021 the fleet will be replenished with two more aircraft. Another two are planned to arrive in 2022.
The base airport of Bees Airline is Kyiv International Airport named after Ihor Sikorsky.
According to the data in the register, the beneficial owners of Bees Airline are Serhiy Smirny (90%) and Khainatsky (10%).
Previously, Khainatsky was CEO of another Ukrainian airline – SkyUp Airlines.
SkyUp Airlines (Kyiv) on May 28 resumes flights on the route Kyiv – Odesa – Kyiv.
As the press service of the company said on Tuesday, flights will be operated daily, except for May 30. The plane will depart from Kyiv at 08:00 in the morning, and from Odesa at 09:50. The flight duration is one hour.
SkyUp said that it also plans to operate flights to Odesa from Kharkiv, Lviv and Zaporizhia from the end of May.
Domestic flights from Kyiv to Odesa are also operated by Windrose, UIA and Motor Sich airlines.
SkyUp (Kyiv) will deny foreign passengers boarding a flight to Ukraine if they do not have a negative PCR test for coronavirus (COVID-19).
“Checking a negative result of a PCR test in foreign citizens is carried out at the check-in counter for a flight or when boarding in case of on-line check-in. Accordingly, in the absence of it such a passenger will be denied check-in or boarding a flight,” the airline told Interfax-Ukraine.
As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine determined a negative result of PCR testing for COVID-19 as a condition of entry into the country.
According to his decision, visitors will be required to provide a negative PCR test result, which was carried out no more than 72 hours before crossing the state border.
SkyUp (Kyiv) will operate a flight from Tel Aviv (Israel) to Kyiv on March 8.
According to the company’s press service on Friday, the departure from Tel Aviv is scheduled for 15:25 local time. The flight arrives at Boryspil International Airport at 18:45.
Tickets are available only for citizens of Ukraine.
Currently, Israel, in accordance with the list of countries with a significant spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), compiled by the Health Ministry of Ukraine, is assigned to the “red” zone. This means that after arriving from this country, observation or self-isolation for 14 days or a negative PCR test is required.
In addition to SkyUp, Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) plans to operate evacuation flights on the Kyiv-Tel Aviv-Kyiv route on March 8 and March 10.
Ukraine and Israel have agreed on a special commercial flight Kyiv-Tel Aviv-Kyiv in early March to return Ukrainians home, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko has said.
“Ukraine and Israel have agreed on a special commercial flight Kyiv-Tel Aviv-Kyiv at the beginning of March to return Ukrainians home. The Ukrainian Embassy in Israel will additionally inform on the exact date and conditions for purchasing a ticket. Israel’s borders for regular flights remain closed,” he wrote on Twitter on Friday.
