The only regular flight to Ukraine’s Zakarpattia Oblast, a region bounded by the Carpathian Mountains and popular with tourists, will be suspended only two months after its launch.
The Ukrainian airline Motor Sich will officially cancel its regular weekly flights between Kyiv and Zakarpattia Oblast capital Uzhgorod on May 17 because they are unprofitable, the regional news website Mukachevo.net reported, citing the airline’s contact center.
The Kyiv Post called Motor Sich, but could not confirm this information. A man who introduced himself as the company’s commercial director but declined to give his name refused to comment and said that Motor Sich only publishes such official information on its website.
The last Motor Sich flight available to book from Kyiv to Uzhgorod is scheduled for May 10.
Uzhgorod airport director Ruslan Liis told Mukachevo.net that the flight is not being canceled, but only suspended. He said that talks are underway to potentially launch a more frequent flight to Uzhgorod, which would be daily, not weekly.
Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan also said that talks are underway and that Motor Sich has legitimate demands that must be met before the flight is renewed: it must be profitable and well-advertised. He said that local authorities in Uzhgorod should help achieve this goal.
“The leaders of the oblast, the city and the airport, and lawmakers – the people that really care about their native land – are working hard to establish effective cooperation with Motor Sich. More than that, they will find solutions and establish flights that will be beneficial to both passengers and the airline. And we’re helping them too,” Omelyan wrote on Facebook.
The Uzhgorod-Kyiv flight has been criticized for its high price and inconvenience. It costs at least Hr 2,000 ($75) one way and takes three hours with a two-hour layover in Lviv.
The flight operates only on Fridays, going first to Uzhgorod and then back to Kyiv only an hour and a half after arrival. Short of taking an immediate return flight, a passenger will have to wait a week to return by plane.
Omelyan and President Petro Poroshenko launched the flight on March 15 as the president arrived in Zakarpattia Oblast to campaign before the first round of the presidential election, which was held on March 31.
