Ryanair has scrapped planned expansion into Ukraine, blaming Kiev airport’s failure to honour a “growth agreement” made in March.
The airline had intended to start four routes from Kiev and seven from Lviv and claims the cancellation of plans will result in the loss of more than 500,000 passengers and 400 jobs.
The European low-fares giant will transfer capacity to competing markets, such as Germany, Israel and Poland instead.
Passengers who had booked on the Ukraine services are being refunded for the cancelled flights.
Ryanair chief commercial officer, David O’Brien, said: “We regret that Kiev Airport has demonstrated that Ukraine is not yet a sufficiently mature or reliable business location to invest valuable Ryanair aircraft capacity.
“Kiev airport’s failure to honour commitments will result in the loss of over 500,000 customers and 400 airport jobs in the first year alone, which would have provided a significant boost to the Ukrainian economy.
“We regret also that Lviv airport has fallen victim to Kiev airport’s decision.”
He added: “Ryanair will grow from 130 million passengers this year to 200 million passengers by 2024 and retains the hope that Ukraine might participate in this growth at some point in the future.”