The inconvenience for airline companies and passengers at the Boryspil airport’s terminal D is caused primarily by the lack of service infrastructure – shops and outlets for food and passenger services. The president of the country's largest airline company, Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), Yurii Miroshnikov announced this at a press conference at the Boryspil airport on Thursday.
"What we have faced and what all airline companies are facing at all the terminals of the Boryspil airport is a very inefficient system for resolving issues involving lease of space," said Miroshnikov.
According to him, the existing system that the State Property Fund uses for holding competitions is a lengthy, formalized procedure that significantly delays the process of introduction of service infrastructure at the airport.
"And this is something that cannot satisfy passengers or the airport, for which rent is a major source of non-aviation revenues," said Miroshnikov.
In addition, according to him, Ukraine International Airlines still has concerns about the capacity of the new terminal. "The terminal D is about 90% full at peak hours, so the ceiling is close. In addition, there is reason for concern about the number of places for parking airplanes. But I think we will solve this problem together with the airport by optimizing the placement of airplanes," said Miroshnikov.
He also described the lack of possibilities for convenient transfer of passengers from domestic flights onto international flights as a problem.
As reported earlier, Ukraine International Airlines moved its international flights from the Boryspil airport’s terminal D on May 30, but its charter flights remain at the terminal F.
The Boryspil airport’s terminal D complex is the largest in Ukraine. It has an area of 107,000 square meters and a capacity of 10 million passengers per year (the authorities previously declared a capacity of 15 million). Construction of the terminal took place from November 2008 to May 2012. The total cost of the project was UAH 4.8 billion. In March this year, the Boryspil airport’s General Manager Anton Volov forecast that the terminal D would reach its full capacity in 2016, but it already reaches close to its full capacity during peak hours.