Boryspil International Airport is celebrating its 31st anniversary
01 April 2024
Boryspil International Airport is celebrating its 31st anniversary as a state-owned enterprise of independent Ukraine. The history of the civil aviation airport began in 1959. In 1960 international flights were authorized to operate from Boryspil Airport and in 1993 State Enterprise Boryspil International Airport as an independent enterprise was set out.
Over these decades, Boryspil Airport has gained an incredible experience starting from an ordinary capital airport to one of the leaders of the European air transportation market, which has many significant achievements and awards in the prestigious international ratings of the world airline industry. However, on 24 February 2022, Ukraine’s airspace was closed because of a full-scale invasion. In the 2 years since the cessation of normal operations, the airport’s employees have continued to carry out a enormous range of measures to maintain the equipment and infrastructure of the enterprise, which are now at a high level of readiness in anticipation of the resumption of usual aviation activities in order to connect Ukraine with the rest of the world.
“Our mission to preserve and support the country’s main airport is being uninterrupted throughout these difficult times, as we understand the importance of the airport’s contribution to the Ukrainian economy. The contributions of the operating aviation industry to the Ukrainian budget are significant. Boryspil Airport alone accounts for 60% of air passengers and 85% of air cargo. Thanks to the airport, the country’s economy receives an additional EUR 1.6 billion in GDP annually. Therefore, the main task now is to continue our operational activity so that after the opening of the airspace we can immediately start air traffic to support the economic recovery of Ukraine,” said Oleksiy Dubrevskyy, CEO of Boryspil Airport.
Due to the war, the national economy is losing huge revenues that could have been generated by the aviation industry. According to the methodology of Airports Council International Europe (ACI EUROPE), the impact of airports on the national economy is calculated: six airports (Boryspil, Lviv, Odesa, Zhuliany, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia) provide more than 200 thousand jobs and generate EUR 2.5 billion in revenue for the national economy, including such factors as accessibility of the country, exports and tourism development. In particular, contribution of Boryspil Airport to the national economy is establishment of 132 thousand jobs and EUR 1.6 billion to the country’s GDP: that means almost 13 thousand jobs in the industry directly (airport operators, airlines, air traffic control, general aviation, airport ground handling) and 120 thousand jobs created by businesses in other sectors of the economy (supply of products for in-flight catering, trade, investment, tourism and processing industries that supply and support airport activities).
It is worth noting that Boryspil International Airport is the basis for the stable development of aviation traffic in the future, so it is crucial to maintain the airport’s operational readiness and retain highly qualified personnel for the economic recovery of Ukraine.