Ukrainian Premier Mykola Azarov has instructed Vice Premier Oleksandr Vilkul to settle the situation with Kyiv-based AeroSvit Airline.
“It’s inadmissible that the interests of the airline are harming
citizens. We should intervene. The carrier should act according to clear
rules,” he said, opening a cabinet meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Azarov said that all citizens who failed to get back to Ukraine from
abroad are to return home. Compensation is to be paid to them for delays
and cancelations of AeroSvit’s flights.
As reported, hundreds of Ukrainians in other countries could not
return to Ukraine in time because of the cancellation and delays of
AeroSvit’s flights.
AeroSvit said that the airline had to cancel some flights on January
5-8 due to the stoppage of servicing of its flights at some airports, in
particular, in Warsaw, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Tel-Aviv. This
restricted the possibilities of the carrier to perform flights to other
directions.
“The decision of airports and handling companies was caused by
distorted information in some online mass media about the alleged
declaring of AeroSvit bankrupt. Contractors, according to their
requests, feared that the Ukrainian carrier may terminate operations and
payment for the services rendered,” reads a company press release.
Due to this, AeroSvit sent a written notice to all partner companies
that it is intending to continue operations and fulfill its current
liabilities.
AeroSvit also said that the airline’s appeal to the Economic Court of
Kyiv region with a request to initiate bankruptcy is aimed at launching
the procedure of reorganization, restoring the company’s solvency and
ensuring the company fulfills its obligations to creditors in full.
AeroSvit was created in 1994. It is based at Boryspil airport in
Kyiv. It serves 80 international destinations in 34 countries. It
provides services to passengers in the largest cities of Ukraine. Its
fleet consists of 28 Boeing aircraft, including 20 medium-range Boeing
737s and eight long-haul Boeing 767s. In addition to that, it operates
Airbus 320, Airbus 321, Embraer 145, Embraer 190, and ATR-72 aircraft.
