Will commercial flights to the Ukraine resume this year? OAG seems to think so, with its analyst John Grant anticipating the reopening of scheduled services to Ukraine at some point in 2025.
Scheduled services to the country have not operated since Apr 2023, but two years later, Ryanair says it is planning to launch services from Kyiv and Lviv within six weeks of a ceasefire agreement, reallocating aircraft from its Stansted and Orly bases.
The LCC is not alone, Wizz Air also claims that it will introduce some 60 routes from both Kyiv and Lviv within six months of the ceasefire.
Grant adds that Turkish Airlines will also be back in the market as quickly as it can, noting the lure of connecting traffic to some of the longer haul markets such as the United States and Canada will be too valuable to ignore.
He also states that Ukraine can expect the big Middle East airlines to start showing an interest in the market before the end of 2025—if they can find the capacity.
As for the country’s national carrier, Ukraine International, the analyst says given financial pressures it is unlikely that a national carrier will emerge as part of the ceasefire.
. . . Up To Putin
However, key to this all is a ceasefire, and when this will all happen remains unknown. This week, the New York Times reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on a call with USA President Donald Trump to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for 30 days, as long as Ukraine does the same. However, Putin has declined for now to agree to the broader cease-fire that the U.S. and Ukraine had proposed.
