The chairman of the supervisory board of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), Aron Mayberg, has said that UIA has essentially become a low-cost airline. He was speaking at a press conference in Kiev, the CFTS correspondent reports.
"Our rates per hour of flight are lower than those of Ryanair and easyJet. In 2015, we have USD 33; last year Ryanair had USD 36 and easyJet had USD 59. We have unilaterally become a low-fare company, but we have not become a low-cost airline. We call on the government pay attention to this," said Mayberg.
He added that the airline currently exceeds its 2013 indicator for passenger traffic. "Our average tariffs in 2013: USD 169 on foreign flights and USD 83 on domestic flights. There was a reduction in 2014: USD 144 and the same USD 83. In 2015, USD 112 and USD 63," said the head of UIA’s supervisory board.
As reported, UIA recently published its passenger traffic figure for June: 403,849, which is 17% higher than the figure for June 2014. The carrier performed 2,998 flights in the first month of summer. The prompt publication of its indicators is uncharacteristic of the carrier, which previously concealed its monthly traffic data. However, the indicators for the period of January-June have still not been made public.
UIA’s passenger transport volume reduced by 15.9% - from 4.58 million to 3.85 million - in 2014 compared with 2013, the airline’s President Yurii Miroshnykov said in a recent interview with the Center for Transport Strategies. UIA’s spokeswoman Yevhenia Satska told the CFTS in April that UIA planned to transport 4.540 million passengers in 2015.
UIA’s financial results for 2014 have not been published. In 2013, the airline’s net profit increased by 27.6% to UAH 19.098 million and its net revenue by 60% to UAH 5.937 billion compared with 2012. The airline carried 4.6 million passengers in 2013 (an increase of 64% compared with 2012).
