Ryanair promises post-war push into Ukraine as O’Leary visits

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary travelled to Ukraine and inspected Boryspil international Airport on the outskirts of Kyiv as he promised to invest more than $3 billion (€2.7 billion) to rebuild the war-torn country’s aviation industry once the conflict ends.

Ryanair would resume flights within eight weeks of the Ukraine air space reopening and European regulators declaring the passage safe, the company said in a statement. The budget specialist said it wanted to operate 600 weekly flights from Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa to cities in 20 European capitals, as well as a domestic service between the three Ukrainian cities, it said.

The company plans to base as many as many 30 new Boeing 737 Max aircraft at the airports, it said. The airline was Ukraine’s second-largest carrier before the air space shut down following Russia’s invasion early last year.

Mr O’Leary has already begun planning for an eventual return to Ukraine. In April, the chief executive said the carrier had hired about 60 Ukrainian pilots and about 80 cabin crew mainly located at Ryanair’s bases in Poland as it waits for the market to eventually reopen. – Bloomberg