REUTERS
Europe is unlikely to open its air gates until the end of summer, minister suggests.
Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii says regular air transportation services may be resumed in August or September 2020. However, he suggests, it will take about two years to reach the pre-crisis level of operations.
Kryklii says this depends not only on Ukraine, as it had been mostly operating international flights in the pre-coronavirus period. The minister has told 24 TV Channel it is rather difficult to predict when and how quarantine restrictions would be lifted in other countries.
"I can't imagine that by the end of summer Europe will fully reopen its air gates and engage in tourism as it was before the coronavirus outbreak," Kryklii said.
Read alsoNumber of flights in Ukraine's sky down by 96% in late March over coronavirus lockdown
The minister says it is obvious now that the "landscape" of tourism and air travel is changing. After all, some companies are going bankrupt, while some enterprises are expected to be nationalized.
"Carriers will use fewer aircraft. It will take some time for everything to be updated. In fact, this is the outlook offered by relevant international organizations," he added.
Earlier, Kryklii elaborated on when Ukraine's subway and public transportation would resume operation.