The Belarusian air carrier Belavia has extended the suspension of all of its flights to Ukraine until September 30, 2021, in line with a similar decision adopted by Ukraine, the Belavia press service told Interfax.
“The Ukrainian side informed us of the extension of its ban on Belavia flights until September 30, 2021. This is their official position. Consequently, the suspension of all fights to Ukraine has also been extended. We can’t say at this point how the situation will unfold in the future,” the press service said.
As reported, due to the Ukrainian authorities’ ban on Belavia’s flights, the Belarusian air carrier had to cancel its flights to Ukraine between May 26 and August 25 of this year.
European Union member states, Ukraine and some other countries prohibited Belarusian airlines from passing through their airspace in late May due to the Ryanair flight landing incident in Minsk. Thus, Belavia has lost access to more than two-thirds of passenger destination countries after it was banned from using the airspace of a number of countries.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) is launching seasonal flights on the Kyiv-Nice-Kyiv route from August 8, the restoration of air traffic became possible due to the mitigation of epidemiological requirements on the part of France.
The press service of UIA reported that flights to Nice will be operated every Tuesday and Sunday: departure from Kyiv will be at 09:30, arrival in Nice at 11:35; back – departure at 12:35, arrival at 16:30.
Flights will last until September 29.
In turn, SkyUp Airlines will launch flights on this route from August 19.
As noted on the airline’s Facebook page, they will be carried out on Thursdays and Sundays.
In addition, from August 20, SkyUp will launch flights on the Kyiv-Paris/Beauvais-Kyiv route. They will run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
SkyUp Airlines will launch flights on the Odessa-Thessaloniki (Greece)-Odessa route from July 6.
According to the press service of the company, they will be performed once a week on Tuesdays.
There are currently no direct flights from Odessa to Thessaloniki.
Flynas Airlines (Saudi Arabia) will start operating direct regular flights from Riyadh to Lviv from July 3.
According to the information on the airline’s website, flights will be operated twice a week.
In addition, direct flights of the airline from Jeddah to Kyiv will be launched on July 2. They will be operated three times a week.
Earlier, the Ukrainian SkyUp Airlines announced the launch of charter flights from Lviv to Saudi Arabia (Al-Qassim).
SkyUp Airlines (Kyiv) has launched charter flights from Lviv to Al-Qassim (Saudi Arabia), the company’s press service said on Tuesday.
“On 20 June, Lviv International Airport welcomed the first SkyUp charter aircraft from Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia. It is expected that this flight will launch a number of planned flights by the airline from the Arabian Gulf countries to Ukraine,” the report said.
According to Head of the State Agency for Tourism Development Maryana Oleskiv, who is cited by SkyUp, the countries of the Arabian Gulf, together with the Central Asia region, are priority areas for the development of inbound tourism in Ukraine.
In addition, on June 20, SkyUp launched regular direct flights from Kyiv to Pula (Croatia). They will be operated on Thursdays and Sundays.
From June 23, the airline will also launch flights from Kyiv to Split, Croatia (flights will be operated on Wednesdays and Saturdays), and from June 25 – to Dubrovnik (flights will be operated on Fridays).
Direct flights to Pula are also operated by Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) and Windrose Airlines, and to Split – by UIA.
As reported, Flynas Airlines (Saudi Arabia) on June 11 launched its first flight from Kyiv to Riyadh. Prior to that, Ukraine did not have regular direct flights with Saudi Arabia.
In January-May this year, Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) processed 68,000 requests for refunds to passengers of flights canceled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, having made refunds totaling about $20 million.
According to the UIA press service on Thursday, in March-May the airline reviewed and processed 39,000 requests, providing refunds in the amount of more than $9 million.
According to the company, from April 2020 to June 2021, UIA paid back more than $41 million to passengers.
“The airline once again emphasizes its readiness for a dialogue and sincerely hopes for the understanding of the situation on the part of passengers. UIA’s communication departments are doing everything possible to process every request as soon as possible,” the report said.
