Ryanair is planning to start regular flights from Kharkiv and Odesa, from June 16-17, the Irish budget airline announced on March 26 at a press conference in Kharkiv.
During the press conference it was announced that the company will begin flying from Odesa, the Black Sea port city of 1 million people located 490 kilometers south of Kyiv, to Krakow on June 16, and to Wroclaw and Katowice from Oct. 29-30.
The new direct flight to Krakow from Kharkiv, a city of 1 million people located 460 kilometers east of Ukraine’s capital, will follow on June 17, and a flight with a connection in Vilnius beginning on Oct. 27.
All flights are scheduled to take place twice a week and will be performed by Ryanair’s Polish-based subsidiary Ryanair Sun.
After an initial attempt by Ryanair to enter the Ukrainian market last summer was unsuccessful, the company finally began flights from Ukraine in September 2018 with a direct flight from Kyiv to Berlin.
The company has since expanded its presence in Ukraine rapidly, connecting Kyiv to 23 European cities for the upcoming summer season. The company also has five direct flights from Lviv, with fares starting at 10 euros.
Hungarian budget airlines Wizz Air, Ryanair’s main competitor in Ukraine, announced on March 26, that the company is pushing forward the start date of its Kharkiv-Krakow flight from mid-September to Aug. 2, and will begin regular flights from Kyiv to Leipzig on June 5.
Wizz Air currently operates six direct flights from Kharkiv, 10 flights from Lviv, and connects Kyiv to 29 European cities in 13 countries. Fares start at 20 euros.
