You're reading: Low-cost Ryanair launches new routes from Ukraine to Italy in October

Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has announced it’s launching 16 new routes between Ukraine and Italy in winter 2020 and summer 2021. 

This includes routes from Kyiv to Bergamo, Catania, Bologna and Rome; from Odesa and Lviv to Bergamo, Bologna and Rome; and from Kharkiv to Bergamo.

Some routes will start operating as early as in October 2020 and tickets are already available on the Ryanair website, according to the company’s July 7 statement.

“Customers in Ukraine can now book flights to Bari, Bologna, Milan, Bergamo, Naples or Palermo and enjoy a winter or summer getaway on the lowest fares,” Olga Pawlonka, the Ryanair marketing manager for Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, said in the statement.

If purchased by July 10, a one-way ticket from Ukraine to Italy for the October–May period will cost Hr 799 ($30). After July 10, however, the prices will go up.

In 2021, the airline will also increase the frequency of flights on existing routes from Lviv to Bergamo and to Rome from two to four times a week.

At the moment, Italy’s borders are only open to passengers coming from within Europe’s Schengen area and 14 other countries. Ukraine isn’t included on that list. Therefore, passengers should take into account existing and possible restrictions on entry before buying tickets.

Italy, which was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and had one of the highest COVID-19 death tolls in the world, was the first country to introduce economic lockdown. It now appears to have managed to control the spread of the disease.

As of July 8, the country has less than 40 active COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people. Its citizens are not required to undergo self-isolation when traveling to Ukraine. 

Read more: Ryanair asks passengers to sign extra documents amid COVID-19 before boarding

On July 1, Ryanair resumed over 20 regular flights from Ukraine. The lowcoster asked the passengers before their trip to confirm that they are acquainted with the restrictions introduced in the destination country to avoid detention.

Seventeen Ukrainians who traveled to Greece on June 4 were denied entry into the country. The local police detained and kept them in a police station on the territory of the Athens airport. Four were eventually released to enter Greece or travel onward. The remaining 13 returned home to Ukraine on July 7. 

Along with other European Union members, Greece is not allowing Ukrainians in due to the amount of active COVID-19 cases in Ukraine. The country has more than 25 people per 100,000 contracting COVID-19 every day, the cut-off for EU entry.