Boryspil International Airport and low-cost airline Wizz Air held negotiations

13 February 2025

UPD. Passenger air traffic recovery is possible only if the airspace will be opened. The key factor for this remains the safety and security factor.

At the same time, it is important to maintain the aviation infrastructure and personnel qualifications in proper condition so that when the security and safety situation allows, passenger air transportation can be opened as soon as possible.

On February 11 – 13, 2025, Boryspil Airport delegation held a high-level meeting and negotiations with Wizz Air – a European low-cost airline – at their headquarters in Budapest. The main topic of the meeting was the prompt launch of air traffic from Boryspil International Airport after the opening of the airspace.

The top management of the airport informed in details the airline executives about the operational readiness of the airport, the status of its infrastructure, its airfield, terminals, aircraft ground handling equipment, as well as about measures to maintain certification requirements, personnel qualifications and safety and security.

A visit of the airline’s delegation to Kyiv will be the next step aiming to conduct an audit at the airport.

Oleksiy Dubrevskyy, Boryspil Airport CEO, who headed the delegation, summarized the talks: ‘This is one more necessary step that is making us closer to the resumption of flights. Every day we are working to be ready to immediately start receiving flights, handling passengers and cargo, and to reconnect Ukraine and Ukrainians with the world. And to do it all in a high-quality and safe manner. Besides our internal preparations, the most important factor is the readiness of airlines. And Jožef Varadi confirmed that Wizz Air has a clear and ambitious plan to return to the Ukrainian market, when the peace comes’.It should be noted that before the talks, Jozsef Varadi, CEO of Wizz Air, told Reuters that the airline was ready to resume flights to Kyiv within weeks of the peace. Wizz Air plans to start flight operations to 30 destinations and increase their number up to 60 within six months. Thus, the low-cost airline plans to carry 5 million passengers during its first year of operation in the Ukrainian market.

For reference: Boryspil International Airport is the main air gateway of Ukraine. In 2021, the airport handled 9.4 million passengers and 50 thousand tonnes of cargo, i.e. 60% of passengers and 80% of cargo that arrived or departed from Ukrainian airports. Before the war, Boryspil Airport created 132,000 jobs in the country’s economy and generated €1.6 billion in revenue for the national economy, including accessibility, exports and tourism development, which was almost 2% of the country’s GDP.