In June, domestic and international flights from Kharkiv International Airport were resumed. After the quarantine pause, passenger traffic started increasing with each passing month, and some of our indicators have rebounded to previous levels already.
September passenger traffic
In September 2020, 90,000 passengers used Kharkiv International Airport’s air travel services against 147,800 in September 2019. Therefore, the traffic rebounded to 61% of the previous monthly figure. Antalya, Istanbul, Sharm El Sheikh, Kyiv, and Dalaman were the most popular destinations.
The airport saw 465 flight departures, which is 80% of the last year’s figure. Domestic flight departures from Kharkiv increased by 15%, and international ones fell by 35%. International traffic rebounded more slowly because some countries closed their borders to tourists.
Year-to-date indicators
In January-September 2020, 514,100 passengers used the airport’s services, which is 53% of the last year’s nine-month figure. August was the most active month after the pause—99,600 passengers were carried. Also, passenger traffic on Egypt-bound flights even exceeded the August 2019 level.
In Q1–Q3 2020, the airport saw 2,590 flight departures, which is 63% of the last year’s three-quarter total. Of those, 1,616 were international and 974 domestic flights.
Quarterly dynamics of Turkey-, Egypt-, and Ukraine-bound flights
Quarterly figures show a rebound in passenger traffic from Kharkiv International Airport to Turkey and Egypt. In August 2020, 11% more people departed to Egypt than in August 2019. Passenger traffic on Turkey routes grew by 45%. In September, passenger traffic on Egypt routes subsided somewhat, while on Turkey ones it showed growth year-on-year.
Meanwhile, there were fewer passengers on domestic flights, even though Windrose Airlines keeps carrying flights from Kharkiv and Kyiv, and UIA restored regular flights on this route in September. Besides, Windrose Airline offers flexible domestic flight schedule with a transfer in Kyiv as well as a convenient airline travel pass.
Restrictions on foreigner admission lifted
For almost the entire duration of September, admission of foreigners to Ukraine was limited only to specific categories of passengers. The measure due to the rapid increase in cases of COVID-19 remained in force until 00:00 on 28 September. Since then, the flights have been restored, and foreign residents can now visit Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities as usual. Entry regulations in Ukraine are currently the same as before the border closure.
