Central European budget carrier Wizz Air is dissolving its Ukrainian subsidiary and reducing its operations to the conflict-riven country.
Wizz Air Ukraine Airlines – which has had two Airbus A320s stationed in Kiev – "will discontinue operations", says the Budapest-headquartered group. The mainline will instead establish a base in the Ukrainian capital and continue operations with one of the two aircraft.
The other is to be transferred to the airline's base in the Slovakian city of Kosice, where it is to be deployed on new routes to Bergamo in Italy and Doncaster in the UK from early June.
The airline plans to operate eight routes from Kiev, half of them to German cities: Cologne, Dortmund, Lubeck and Memmingen. It will also serve Budapest, Katowice in Poland, Larnaca in Cyprus, and London Luton.
Existing routes from Kiev to Barcelona, Bergamo, Kutaisi, Moscow, Naples, Valencia and Treviso will be discontinued. Operations in Lviv will be closed down altogether. From that city, in Ukraine's western region, Wizz has served Bergamo, Naples and Treviso.
Last year, the airline already reduced its Ukrainian operations as a result of that country's political crisis. Wizz says it "stands ready for expansion as and when market conditions improve".
The closure of its Ukrainian division will not have a "material effect" on the group's trading this year, the carrier says. Its financial year ends on 31 March. Revenue and profit will be in line with expectations, says Wizz.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
