Ukraine is working "very intensively" to restore consumer air travel after commercial flights were suspended following Russia’s invasion in February 2022, a top official has said.
Rostyslav Shurma, deputy head of the presidential office, told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday that travel is a priority for the government.
He said: "I don't want to create over-expectations ... but I can tell you we are working very intensively to recover the air connection in Ukraine.
"We need to get approvals from the IATA (International Air Transport Association) and FAA (the US Federal Aviation Administration) which is not an easy case. And it depends more on the bold decisions of international partners that we believe we'll get."
The announcement was made as Vladimir Putin’s air force is reportedly retreating away from the Ukraine war zone after one of its spy planes was downed.
Ukrainians have relied on trains, buses, and cars to make journeys since Russia’s invasion but with the vast scale of the country meaning such trips can take many hours, flights will be a welcome return.
Special effort is being made to reopen Boryspil International Airport near Kyiv or an airport in western Ukraine.
In December, Boryspil saw the departure of a Boeing 777-300 on a technical flight, a sign the infrastructure remains in working condition.
Mr Shurma declined to give a timeline for the possible restoration of air travel but said Ukraine had an “internal roadmap and schedule”.
He said Kyiv was consulting Israeli colleagues on technical specifications to enable the restoration process with Israel having experience in deploying air defence systems to protect its infrastructure.
Also at the panel in Davos, Marsh McLennan chief executive John Doyle said that an insurance program for grain shipments through the Black Sea corridor could be used as a blueprint to restore air travel.
Mr Doyle said: "The near-term focus is moving past that Unity facility (for grain shipments), using that as a blueprint to support other aspects of the economy.
"As we discussed, travel is an important part of it. That’s going to be part of our focus over the coming months."
