International Airport “Kharkiv” was one of the objects of the study “Heaven and earth. When will Ukrainians fly from regions comfortably”(«Небо і земля. Коли українці будуть літати з регіонів комфортно», Hromadske TV).
This project analyzes the state of domestic airports in order to clarify the reasons for the current state of the industry and its development prospects. “Ever since the Soviet time there is an airport in almost every regional center. The only problem is that the infrastructure is outdated and most of them hadn’t serviced any flights for a long time, they do not meet modern requirements of comfort and safety… Ukraine could develop in this direction, but first the airports need to be fixed”, – reads the project summary.
Within the research project journalists call International airport “Kharkiv” one of “the most successful cases from all the regional airports in Ukraine.” According to them, the 60%increase in passenger traffic in the first 9 months of the year can be explained with competent approach to development of new directions and interacting with carriers. “We are trying to work on the proposal for the wider route network, so that Kharkiv residents didn’t have to go to other airports and use their services,” – says Vladyslav Ilyin, Commercial Director of Civil Aviation of the International Airport “Kharkiv”. According to him, the launch of new flights is a result of close cooperation with the airlines. “Everything depends on the new destinations launching. If the carrier does launch a new route, it receives discounts that allow airlines to quickly reach the level of profitability,”- he said.
As previously reported, the International Airport “Kharkiv” was one of Kharkiv’s key objects, renovated in preparation for the finals of the European Football Championship in 2012 (Euro 2012). The large-scale project has started on April 1, 2008, when the company “New Systems AM” (DCH Group, owner – a well-known Ukrainian businessman, the general investor and coordinator of Kharkiv’s preparations for Euro-2012 Oleksandr Yaroslavskyy) won the tender for long-term lease of the integral property of the Kharkiv Airport complex. The reconstruction of the International airport “Kharkiv” was carried out in the form of public-private partnership. The total amount of Oleksandr Yaroslavskyy’s investment in the project is $107.2 million (airport complex and the surrounding area).
