Ryanair is one of the five airline companies that are planning to start flights to the Lviv airport in 2017. This was announced by the airport’s Director Tetiana Romanovska, the Delo.ua publication reports.
“These are mainly companies that have already flown to Lviv: the Czech Airlines, AirBaltic, Belavia, and Wizz Air. However, there are also new ones, such for example Ryanair. All these airlines are planning to come to us next year," Romanovska said.
Romanovska added that the next round of talks with representatives of the Irish low-cost airline would take place in July. The negotiations focus on discount for services. The discount will be significant, according to Romanovska, if the Irish airline transports many passengers and operates many flights. However, the cost of services to Ryanair will have to be covered from the Lviv airport’s other sources of revenue, primarily from non-aviation operations: car parks, cafes, shops, car rentals, and other services.
In addition, the airport will ask for additional benefits from the Infrastructure Ministry. "If Ryanair arrives, we will ask the Ministry of Infrastructure for additional benefits for carriers that bring large volumes of air traffic," Romanovska said.
In May this year, Romanovska spoke about the possibility of Ryanair operating flights to Lviv. Romanov said at the time that representatives of Ryanair had expressed readiness to hold a working meeting with the Lviv airport and that it was preparing a price offer. "We have not even seen the price at which we should serve them, but a great desire for a meeting already exists," she said.
The airline’s Commercial Director David O'Brien said recently, "We are in dialogue with people from Lviv, but I do not think we will discuss flights to Odesa. Currently, Ukraine can only be considered as a supplement to our main markets."
