It seems not everything Ryanair touches turns to gold, with the airline choosing to abandon its planned operation to Kiev and Lviv.
Ryanair Boeing 737-800 taxing out of Birmingham Airport – Image Economy Class and Beyond
It seems Ryanair and the Ukrainian Airport authorities could not come to terms, with Ryanair stating Kiev airport’s failure “to honour a growth agreement reached at the Ministry of Infrastructure with airport officials and the current Airport Director General, Mr Riabikin, in March of this year.”
Ryanair had four routes lined up for entry into Ukraine – serving Kiev and Lviv. These will now be formally cancelled. Customers who had tickets lined up services to Ukrainian destinations will be contacted by email and have their tickets refunded.
Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer, David O’Brien states:
“On behalf of Ukrainian visitors and consumers, we regret that Kiev Airport has demonstrated that Ukraine is not yet a sufficiently mature or reliable business location to invest valuable Ryanair aircraft capacity. Kiev Airport’s failure to honour commitments will result in the loss of over 500,000 customers and 400 airport jobs in the first year alone, which would have provided a significant boost to the Ukrainian economy. We regret also that Lviv Airport has fallen victim to Kiev Airport’s decision.”
It seems this action by Ryanair is having a fall-out in Ukraine, with the Ukraine’s infrastructure minister stating he would seek to sack the head of Kiev’s main airport.
This has potential to run. In the meantime, if you were relying on Ryanair to get you to Kiev or Lviv… you’d better fire up the fare engines again.
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