Page 54 - UKRRptApr21

threatening to close municipal mass transit systems.
● Planes
Airline passenger traffic in January-February was down 68% y/y in 2021, reports the State Aviation Service. The decrease is largely attributed to uncertainty caused by pandemic mitigation policies. In 2020, Ukrainian airports served 8.6mn passengers, 64.4% less than in 2019.
Passenger traffic at Kyiv Boryspil was down by two thirds during the first two months of this year, compared to January-February 2020, reported the centre for Transportation Studies. With UIA’s suspension of its hub system, transfer passengers were down 94%, to 20,018. Passengers on regular, scheduled flights were down 75%, to 373,726. Faring best were vacationers on charter flights, which were down by 30%, to 298,332.
Turkish Airlines’ lowcost unit, AnadoluJet, will start flights to Ukraine for the first time on March 30 2021 with a flight between Ankara and Kyiv Boryspil. Flying a Boeing 737-800, Anadolujet schedule includes four services a week. Pegasus Airlines, another Turkish lowcost airline, already operates on the Kyiv-Ankara route. Separately, Ukraine International Airlines commences a new route to Nevs¸ehir, the regional capital in Central Anatolia on March 25. The direct flights from Kyiv Boryspil will improve tourist access to Cappadocia.
Antonov Airlines’ mammoth An-124-100 Ruslan cargo aircraft, recorded nearly 8,000 hours of air time last year, a record for the 32-year-old Kviv-based company, Mikhaylo Kharchenko, Antonov’s Director told the centre for Transportation Strategies. In the most recent urgent, outsized delivery, three Antonov Ruslan’s flew 370 tons of mining equipment from Australia to Brazil. The shipment was chartered by UK-based Chapman Freeborn Airchartering.
● Trains
Ukrainian Railways is planning to earn UAH72bn in revenue from freight transportation in 2021. This increase of 10% was announced at increased freight rates are expected to deliver this revenue boost.
Ukrzaliznytsia passenger service – which has been hemorrhaging money loser – lost 26% more of its income in the last year, a total of $314mn, said Volodomyr Zhmak, the state railroad’s CEO. Due to quarantine restrictions on travel, passenger traffic decreased by 56%, to 68mn passengers. Estimating that the railroad’s locomotives and cars are “90% worn out,” Zhmak praised the government for allocating $145mn this year for the renovation of rolling stock. In Ukraine, freight subsidizes passenger service.
● Ships
Cargo handled by Ukraine’s ports was down 24% y/y in January-February, to 20.6mn tons, reported the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority. Exports dropped by 23%, to 16.1mn tons. Imports dropped by 28%, to 3mn tons. The big winter drop was a 38% fall in grain exports, to 5.6mn tons.
54 UKRAINE Country Report April 2021 www.intellinews.com