Ryanair pledges to base up to 30 new Boeings worth $3 bln at Ukrainian airports after airspace reopening

MOSCOW. July 21 (Interfax) - Irish giant Ryanair, which is the largest low cost airline in Europe, announced on July 20 its plans to resume low fare flights to and from Ukraine within eight weeks of Ukrainian airspace reopening and to base up to 30 new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft worth over $3 billion at Ukraine's airports.

"Once the skies over Ukraine have reopened for commercial aviation, Ryanair will charge back into Ukraine linking the main Ukraine airports with over 20 EU capitals," a Ryanair press release quoted the company's CEO Michael O'Leary as saying during a visit to Kiev on Thursday.

When the European Union Aviation Safety Agency announces that it is again safe to fly to and from Ukraine, Ryanair will be ready to operate up to 600 flights a week, according to the press release. In addition, Ryanair plans to start daily flights between Kiev, Lvov and Odessa as soon as their airports are ready for that.

Ryanair plans in the first 12 months after restarting operations in Ukraine to offer over 5 million seats to/from and within Ukraine, and this will build to over 10 million seats over a 5-year period.

"The fastest way to rebuild and restore the Ukrainian economy will be with low fare air travel. Ryanair intends to invest heavily in Ukraine and lead this aviation recovery by investing up to $3 billion and basing up to 30 new Boeing MAX aircraft at Ukraine's 3 main airports in Kiev, Lvov and Odessa," O'Leary said.

During his visit, the Ryanair CEO met with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Minister Alexander Kubrakov and officials of the airports of Kiev, Lvov and Odessa.