On October 1, 2013, a presentation of the new regular Kharkiv-Warsaw-Kharkiv flight took place at Kharkiv International Airport. Its main feature is that flights on this route will be operated by one of Europe’s largest low-cost carriers Wizz Air. More precisely by its Wizz Air Hungary division.
Kharkiv airport already has a positive experience of collaboration with Wizz Air Group: starting July 1, 2013, the air company began operating two Kharkiv-Kutaisi(Georgia)-Kharkiv flights a week (three flights a week starting this October).
Direct flights to Warsaw, Poland, operated in collaboration with Wizz Air, open up a number of benefits for passengers of Kharkiv International Airport, most attractive of them being the price for a flight. One-way ticket price for the route costs 259 UAH, including taxes, airport surcharges, and hand baggage fee. At first, flights will be operated twice a week – Tuesdays and Saturdays. Tickets are available for purchase from the air company’s site wizzair.com.
It should be taken into account that Warsaw is a point of connection with 22 low-cost routes served by Wizz Air, which lets passengers additionally save on further flights. Considering the ever-growing route network, Kharkiv-Warsaw flight has great potential (the air company presently works in 35 countries on over 290 routes).
The inauguration ceremony of the new flight was opened with a press-conference featuring the Consul General of Poland Jan Granat, the Corporate Communications Manager at Wizz Air Tamara Mshvenieradze, the financial director of New Sytems AM LLC (Kharkiv International Airport) Alexei Ratai, and the Deputy Head of Kharkiv Regional State Administration Andrei Mochenkov.
The Deputy Head of Kharkiv Regional State Administration Andrei Mochenkov pointed out the importance of introduction of a direct flight between Kharkiv and Poland: “We don’t open just a successful and convenient flight to Warsaw. It is practically a bridge between Kharkiv and all EU cities.”
“Collaboration with Wizz Air is very promising for us,” stressed the financial director of New Systems AM Alexei Ratai, “First of all, it is conditioned by a specific character of this air company. A list of services provided by Wizz Air and more than affordable ticket prices will let a much greater number of passengers use the air service, preferring it to other kinds of transportation, and resort to it more frequently, no matter whether we are talking about business, tourism, etc. As a result, the passenger traffic will increase. We already have plans to open a number of popular routes to Europe in collaboration with Wizz Air. I hope they will be carried out in the nearest future.”
The Corporate Communications Manager at Wizz Air Tamara Mshvenieradze, in her turn, reported that Wizz Air view the dynamics of collaboration with Ukrainian airports positively. “Today, we are very pleased to celebrate the launch of our first flight from Kharkiv to Warsaw on one of our Airbus A320 airplanes,” she noted, “Kharkiv-Warsaw flight operated by Wizz Air Hungary provides Kharkiv passengers with a low-cost connection with Europe. We hope that the launch of Kharkiv-Warsaw flight will help promote tourism and business relationships between two countries. Meanwhile, we will be glad to see more passengers on board our aircrafts.”
Making a speech at the press-conference, the Consul General of Poland in Kharkiv Jan Granat expressed confidence that the launch of a direct Kharkiv-Warsaw flight will play an important role in further strengthening of business and good neighbourly relationships between two countries: “From now on, the capital of Sloboda Ukraine and the capital of Poland, two partner cities, are connected by a direct flight. It is a result of work of Wizz Air, our consulate and Kharkiv International Airport,” he commented on the event, “I can say that we expect a 20% rise in growth trend for issuing of visas by the Polish visa center in Ukraine next year. Today, business and sports contacts are mainly developed. We will make everything in our power to let youth and students from Kharkiv and nearby cities see our beautiful country, get to know its history and try the superb and original Polish cuisine.”
At the end of the event, the participants and mass media representatives made for the aircraft parking area on the airfield (Kharkiv-Warsaw-Kharkiv flights will be operated on a standard for Wizz Air Airbus A320 airplane with a passenger capacity of 180 people).
Reference Information
Kharkiv International Airport (http://hrk.aero/) is one of the key objects of Sloboda Ukraine’s capital, reconstructed as a part of preparation for the final part of the European Football Championship in 2012. The large-scale project was launched on April 1, 2008, when New Systems AM company (DCH Group, its owner, Aleksander Yarsolavskiy, is a famous Ukrainian businessman, general investor and coordinator of Kharkiv’s preparation for Euro-2012, 2005-2012 the president of Metalist FC) won the tender for long-term rent of Kharkiv airport’s integral property complex.
The reconstruction of Kharkiv International Airport was carried out in the format of private-public partnership. The total sum of the investments made by Aleksander Yaroslavskiy in the project (air-terminal complex and the premises) amounted to $107.2 million, and another $191.3 million was invested by the state.
Wizz Air is the largest low-cost air carrier in Central and Eastern Europe. The air company presently operates 45 Airbus A320 aircrafts, which carry out passenger transportation from 16 bases on over 290 routes and 95 destinations in 35 countries. A team of 17 hundred experts provides services of the highest quality at competitive price, thanks to which more than 12 million passengers used Wizz Air services in 2012.
