You're reading: Budget airlines take off in nation’s skies

Comfortable and quick, trips by air have one annoying feature – they can be hard on the wallet. So to save money, many opt for low-cost airlines when planning their trips.

Ukraine’s air travel market is hardly flooded with low-cost airline companies, but there are at least six operating here now. The list includes Wizz Air, Vueling Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, Air Arabia, Air One and Carpatair. Most of them fly from Kyiv to the carrier’s home city, and in some cases to other destinations.

Low-cost airlines’ economy prices pair with typical bargain features such as having one passenger class, no or minimal additional services on board and often non-refundable tickets.

“Budget airlines have certain limitations. In particular, a refund is usually possible only in the case of cancellation of flight,” says airline lawyer Andriy Guk. “The ticket is only valid for a specific date and time, and the passenger has to pay for re-booking. Legally, passengers must be notified about those restrictions before purchasing the ticket.”



Note: The map features minimal
ticket prices that were available through online booking services.
Sources: www.wizzair.com, www.airarabia.com,
www.carpatair.com,
www.vueling.com,
www.flypgs.com,
Kyiv Zhulyani Airport.

 

Wizz Air Ukraine

Flies to Antalya, London, Kutaisi, Hamburg,  Cologne, Dortmund, Katowice, Valencia, Barcelona, Venice, Vilnius, Sofia, Dubai, Budapest, Memmingen/Munich, Simferopol

The first low-cost airline to break into the Ukrainian market, Wizz Air is already offering an impressive number of routes, most of them from Kyiv to Western and Central Europe. Several new routes are expected to open in late summer or in autumn, including routes from Kyiv to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Bucharest. Also, a flight from Donetsk to Dortmund will be launched on July 6, 2013. Wizz Air also serves one in-country route, from Kyiv to Simferopol. With it, travelers get to Crimea in one hour instead of taking a 13-hour-long ride on a train. Another convenient feature is that Wizz Air flies from Zhuliany Airport in the city, rather than the suburb of Boryspil.

Pegasus Airlines
Flies to Istanbul

Though one of the biggest Turkish budget airlines and serving routes with more than 40 destinations in Europe, Pegasus has a small presence in Ukraine. It only serves flights to Istanbul, but departs from Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv. It does not fly from Kyiv. As most low-cost airline operators, it offers tickets without seat numbers, but allows passengers to book a specific seat for an additional fee. Also, one can order a meal in advance, choosing it from a menu when booking a ticket.

Air Arabia
Flies to Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Air Arabia tickets are the priciest of the low-cost airlines operating in Ukraine, but the company is still considered a bargain carrier. It offers the cheapest option to fly to the Sharjah emirate.

Vueling Airlines
Flies to Barcelona

Spain’s second biggest airline company flies from Kyiv’s Zhuliany Airport to Barcelona. Flights take 3 hours and 40 minutes and are available on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Wizz Air flies to Barcelona too, which makes it the only route served by two low-cost companies. So far, Vueling’s tickets to Barcelona are Hr 300 more expensive.

Air One
Flies to Catania

Italy’s Air One is the latest low-cost carrier to enter Ukraine. It started flying from Kyiv to Catania on June 3, thus opening a low-cost route to Sicily with one-way prices starting at Hr 1,674. Flights, however, will be limited to just one every 10 days through September. In 2012, Air One started flying from Kyiv to Milan, but ceased soon after. Let’s hope this attempt will last longer.

Carpatair
Flies to Timisoara

Romanian low-cost company Carpatair only flies from Chernivtsi to Timisoara, the company’s home city. Mostly used by western Ukrainians working in Romania, the flights could also be of use to those interested in sightseeing. Tickets are available for about Hr 1,200. Be careful when booking, though, because the first price  offered does not include taxes.

Kyiv Post intern Kateryna Zagorodnya can be reached at [email protected].