As the low-cost airline was ready to return to the war-torn nation, company chief executive Michael O’Leary stated today that Ryanair might have up to 5 million passengers annually in Ukraine within a year or two of reopening its skies, reports RTE.
Airlines like Ryanair and its low-cost rival Wizz Air are positioning themselves to profit from the return of flights as US President Donald Trump has promised to end the war in Ukraine shortly.
“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,” Michael O’Leary told Reuters, reports RTE.
He noted that because of the increased damage from the three-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it could take longer to return to certain other Ukrainian airports. According to him, the airline aimed to operate six to eight trips from Poland to Ukraine.
This summer, Ryanair plans to open 24 new flights from Poland. At a press conference today in Warsaw, Poland, Mr. O’Leary stated that it anticipates a 4-6% increase in summer prices overall this year, reports RTE.
Due in part to a disagreement with online travel agencies that has now been settled, the airline saw a 10% decrease in rates over its two summer quarters last year.
“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,” Michael O’Leary said, reports RTE.
“They’re going to leave us 20 aircraft short for the summer of 2025, but we are due 29 aircraft for summer 2026, 24 of those aircraft will be delivered in August, September or October of 2025 so we’re guaranteed to have them for summer 2026 and then the last four are due in January and February of 2026,” he added, reports RTE.
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