Ryanair set to quickly ramp up passenger numbers in Ukraine, CEO says
Ryanair could have as many as 5m passengers per year in Ukraine within a year or two of reopening its skies, CEO Michael O'Leary said on Tuesday, as the low-cost airline prepared for a return to the war-torn country. With U.S. President Donald Trump vowing to bring the war in Ukraine to an end soon, airlines including Ryanair and its low-cost competitor Wizz Air are getting in position to benefit from flights resuming. "Straight out-of-the-box... we have two million seats in there within six weeks (of the sky reopening) and then I think we would want to open bases both in Kyiv and Lviv within 12 months and then I think we could go from two to five million passengers within a year or two," O'Leary told Reuters.<br/>He said returning to some other airports in Ukraine could take longer due to greater damage from the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine. He said that the airline wanted to have 6-8 routes to Ukraine from Poland. Ryanair will launch 24 new routes from Poland this summer. It expects summer fares overall to rise 4-6% this year, O'Leary said at a press conference in Warsaw on Tuesday.<br/>The Irish airline experienced a 10% fall in fares over its two summer quarters last year, in part due to a dispute with online travel agents, which has been largely resolved.<br/>"Fares will grow between 4% and 6% this year, so you'll still be traveling at slightly cheaper prices than in the summer of 2023, but you'll be a little bit up on 2024," O'Leary said.<br/>He thought the situation at Boeing was improving and that the planemaker would catch up on its delivery backlog in time for summer 2026.<br/>
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Ryanair set to quickly ramp up passenger numbers in Ukraine, CEO says
Ryanair could have as many as 5m passengers per year in Ukraine within a year or two of reopening its skies, CEO Michael O'Leary said on Tuesday, as the low-cost airline prepared for a return to the war-torn country. With U.S. President Donald Trump vowing to bring the war in Ukraine to an end soon, airlines including Ryanair and its low-cost competitor Wizz Air are getting in position to benefit from flights resuming. "Straight out-of-the-box... we have two million seats in there within six weeks (of the sky reopening) and then I think we would want to open bases both in Kyiv and Lviv within 12 months and then I think we could go from two to five million passengers within a year or two," O'Leary told Reuters.<br/>He said returning to some other airports in Ukraine could take longer due to greater damage from the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine. He said that the airline wanted to have 6-8 routes to Ukraine from Poland. Ryanair will launch 24 new routes from Poland this summer. It expects summer fares overall to rise 4-6% this year, O'Leary said at a press conference in Warsaw on Tuesday.<br/>The Irish airline experienced a 10% fall in fares over its two summer quarters last year, in part due to a dispute with online travel agents, which has been largely resolved.<br/>"Fares will grow between 4% and 6% this year, so you'll still be traveling at slightly cheaper prices than in the summer of 2023, but you'll be a little bit up on 2024," O'Leary said.<br/>He thought the situation at Boeing was improving and that the planemaker would catch up on its delivery backlog in time for summer 2026.<br/>
