The State Aviation Service is not excluding the possibility that the agreement on establishment of a Common Aviation Area between Ukraine and the European Union will be signed in winter this year.
"Ukraine has done everything on its part to finally take this step. We are hoping that we will manage to sign the agreement on establishment of a Common Aviation Area with the European Union by December," the State Aviation Service’s head Denys Antoniuk said in a column for the Center for Transport Strategies.
In his view, signing of the agreement will provide an impetus to regional airports because carriers will be able to launch direct flights to European cities from these airports.
As reported, Ukraine and the European Union have repeatedly postponed the signing of the agreement on establishment of a Common Aviation Area, which was initialed in Vilnius in November last year. The agreement was expected to be signed simultaneously with the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement on 27 June.
The official reason for the delay in signing the agreement is the failure by Spain and the United Kingdom to agree their positions on sovereignty over the territory in which the Gibraltar airport is situated.
The Common Aviation Area agreement stipulates that all EU airlines will be able to operate direct flights to Ukraine from anywhere in the EU from the IATA summer scheduling season 2015 (from March 31) and that the same will apply to Ukrainian airlines. All limitations on weekly flights between Ukraine and the EU will also be removed. Competition is expected to facilitate establishment of market prices.
