The Mykolaiv airport has been certified to receive cargo aircraft. To be able to receive passenger aircraft, the airport needs to conclude an agreement with an aircraft ground handling company. The airport’s acting director Fedir Barna announced this at a news briefing on Thursday, May 24, the CFTS portal reports.
According to ІnsheTV, Barna showed the certificate to reporters. It grants the airport the right to receive aircrafts from May 23, and it is valid until 2021.
According to Barna, the airport is currently looking for an aircraft ground handling company.
"Every airline asks, ‘who is your aircraft ground handling company, what are the conditions?’ These are all interrelated things. Therefore, I held negotiations with an Odesa-based aircraft ground handling company on Saturday… I will hold negotiations with a number of airlines and aircraft ground handling companies next week. After we sign a contract with them, they will make their own changes to the existing certificate for operations at airfields, adding Mykolaiv to it. Then … then we will obtain the right to receive passenger airplanes,” said Barna.
The head of the airport also announced plans for passenger traffic. According to him, the airport will begin handling flights by September. The airport expects to handle between 70,000 and 100,000 passengers by the end of this year and more than 200,000 next year.
Barna told reporters that the airport has "certain agreements and correspondence" with Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) and Turkish Airlines. "There is an agreement with Mr. Omelian (Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure), and he has promised to facilitate operation of three flights to European destinations per week by low-cost airlines. My adviser is currently in Georgia, where he is holding talks on the possibility of cargo transportation," Barna said.
As reported, the Mykolaiv airport was previously expected to begin operation in March, but the date was later moved to May or a later date.
