UkSATSE halves flight services in Nov

The Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise, or UkSATSE, says in November 2020, it reduced the number of serviced flights by 56.7% year-over-year (y-o-y), to 9,910.

Over the period under review, Ukrainian air carriers performed 3,578 flights, which was 53.4% down y-o-y, while foreign airlines cut the number of flights by 58.3% to 6,332, UkSATSE's press service said on its website on December 8.

"By types of flights, the air traffic in November was distributed as follows: 1,909 domestic flights (15.6% down y-o-y), 4,563 international flights (62% down), and 3,438 transit flights (60% down)," the report said.

UkSATSE CEO Andriy Yarmak says the aviation market could recover earlier than expected.

"Next year in the aviation segment is seen through the prism of a certified [COVID-19] vaccine, new passenger air travel rules, and a new economic reality for airlines. The revival of the industry will depend on macroeconomic factors, adjusted for aviation narrow-profile features. With a positive set of circumstances, the recovery of the aviation market may occur much earlier than predicted. This is especially true for Ukraine," the press service quoted Yarmak as saying.

Moreover, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) has developed three scenarios for the recovery of the industry, depending on the vaccination start.

Read alsoFM Kuleba tells of airports' operation prospects amid possible lockdownAccording to the best-case scenario, the COVID-19 vaccine is introduced in the near future, becoming widely available to passengers in the summer of 2021. Thus, aviation traffic will rebound to the 2019 level in five years, that is in 2024.

Under the realistic scenario, the vaccine will have been administered to passengers by the summer of 2022. In this case, the industry recovery will drag on until 2026.

According to the worst-case scenario, if the vaccine is deemed ineffective, it will take the next decade for air passenger traffic to recover to the level of 2019.

Decline in number of flights

UkSATSE in October 2020 reduced the number of serviced flights by 56.4% year-over-year, to 13,041 operations.

Memo

The Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE) is authorized by the state regulatory agency of civil aviation to provide air navigation services in Ukraine.

Read alsoUIA to resume flights to Switzerland from Dec 19UkSATSE includes the Ukrainian Airspace Management and Planning Centre (Ukraerocenter), the Aeronautical Information Services (AIS), UkSATSE Airline, the UkSATSE training and certification center, and seven regional divisions.