Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal expects in 2020, after the quarantine is over, a meeting of the Ukrainian-Italian Council on Economic Cooperation and the holding of a common business forum.
“After the quarantine is over, we expect to hold a meeting of the Ukrainian-Italian Council for Economic Cooperation and organize a joint business forum as part of the visit of Prime Minister of Italy Giuseppe Conte to Ukraine this year,” the government’s press service quoted Shmyhal as saying following a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic to Ukraine Davide La Cecilia and a delegation of representatives of Italian companies operating in Ukraine.
The Ambassador of the Italian Republic to Ukraine Mr. Davide La Cecilia, in turn, added that Ukraine is of interest for investors.
“Italy is one of Ukraine’s first commercial partners at the global and European level, and we have set a goal of increasing investment and deepening economic cooperation,” said Cecilia.
The parties agreed to intensify cooperation in various areas of the economy, in particular, in the development of energy, agribusiness and infrastructure.
Italian aviation authorities granted Ryanair, the Irish low-cost airline, temporary rights to operate 28 weekly flights between the cities of Italy and Ukraine until July 13, 2020, the National Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) has said on its website.
Ryanair was allowed to fly to Kyiv from Bergamo, Bologna, Rome, and Catania; to Odesa and Lviv from Rome, Bergamo and Bologna; and also to Kharkiv from Bergamo.
Earlier, Ryanair announced the cancellation of most of its flights from March 24. At the same time, the carrier does not expect to resume flights in April and May due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread and the introduction of significant restrictions on flights by various European countries.
Ryanair intended to launch flights from Italy to Ukraine in 2019.
“In Italy, we fly from Milan and Pisa. However, the Italian government provided certain advantages to the airline, which has only two flights. We filed a lawsuit and won the case, thus we will also fly from Italy to Ukraine,” the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer David O’Brien said.
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.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) does not feel a decrease in passenger traffic due to information about the active spread of coronavirus, the airline’s press service has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“There are passengers with tickets for flights to Italy who requested to re-arrange their flights for later dates. We do this as an exception to a term of two months from the original date. But there are very few of them,” the press service said.
According to UIA, in total, there were 26 such requests through the airline’s Facebook page, of which five returns were issued, and 21 tickets were reissued for other dates.
At the same time, UIA does not currently plan to limit the flight program to Italy.
As reported, the Hungarian low cost airline Wizz Air reduces the number of flights to Italy from March 11 to April 2, 2020 due to a decrease in demand because of coronavirus.
SkyUp Airlines has announced the launch of some flights to Italy from Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa and Kharkiv. The airline said on its Facebook page on Tuesday, in particular, the Kyiv-Rome-Kyiv flight will be operated from March 29 to October 24, 2020 three times a week – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The cost of one ticket without baggage from Kyiv to Rome starts from UAH 1,500, and back from UAH 2,200.
In addition, from March 29 to October 24, a flight will be operated on the route Kyiv-Milan (Bergamo). It will be performed three times a week – on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The cost of a ticket from Kyiv to Milan starts from UAH 1,500, and back from UAH 1,600.
The flight Kyiv-Bologna-Kyiv will also be operated from March 29 to October 24, 2020. In particular, it will be serviced on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The cost of a ticket from Kyiv to Bologna starts from UAH 1,500, and back from UAH 1,800.
Flight Kyiv-Lamezia Terme-Kyiv will be operated from May 30 to September 30, 2020 twice a week – on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The cost of a ticket from Kyiv to Lamezia Terme starts from UAH 2,100, and back from UAH 2,300.
The Lviv-Rome-Lviv flight will be operated from March 29 to October 24, 2020 three times a week – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The ticket price from Lviv to Rome starts from UAH 1,400, and back from UAH 1,900.
The Lviv-Naples-Lviv flight will also be operated from March 29 to October 24, 2020, but twice a week – on Tuesdays and Fridays. The ticket price from Lviv to Naples starts from UAH 1,100, and back from UAH 1,400.
In the same period, it is planned to launch the flight Lviv-Milan (Bergamo)-Lviv. It will be performed on Mondays and Fridays. The ticket price from Lviv to Milan starts from UAH 1,400, and back from UAH 1,500.
Flight Odesa-Lamezia Terme-Odesa will be operated from June 3 to September 30, 2020 only on Wednesdays. The ticket price from Odesa to Lamezia Terme starts from UAH 2,100, and back from UAH 2,200.
Flight Kharkiv-Lamezia Terme-Kharkiv will be operated from June 1 to September 28, 2020 on Mondays. The cost of a ticket from Kharkiv to Lamezia Terme starts from UAH 2,400, and back from UAH 2,600.
The Irish low cost air carrier Ryanair could start operating flights from Italy to Ukraine as early as 2019, chief commercial officer of the company David O’Brien has said at a conference at the Ministry of Infrastructure. “In Italy, we fly from Milan and Pisa. But the Italian government provided certain advantages to the airline, which has only two flights. We filed a lawsuit and won the case, so maybe we will also fly from Italy to Ukraine,” he said.
Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan, in turn, noted that Ukraine plans to provide all the necessary support for the launch of flights by the Irish low cost airline on the direction Ukraine-Italy. “I believe that Ryanair will be able to fly from Italy next year,” the minister said.
He also said that the Ministry of Infrastructure had sent a corresponding letter to the Italian government, moreover, negotiations with the Italian Transport Minister were scheduled for the near future, during which Omelyan plans to raise the issue of planning flights in the Ukrainian direction.
Omelyan also noted that he expects the final settlement of Open Skies Agreement issues with the European Union in the first half of 2019.
