According to the state aviation service, Ukraine has 20 civilian airports and is currently investigating the possibility of partially opening its airspace, which has been completely closed since the beginning of the war.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 15 Ukrainian civilian airports have been damaged, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who was quoted by local media on Saturday. Residents of Ukraine currently have to travel by car or train to neighboring countries in order to fly abroad. For those who live in the east of the country, the journey from Ukraine can take a whole day. TASR informs about it based on a Reuters report.
“We assessed the risks and identified the needs of the air defense forces for the partial opening of the airspace,” the state news agency Ukrinform quoted Šmyhaľa at the traffic conference. “Security issues and the military situation remain key to this decision,” the prime minister emphasized.
Shmyhaľ added that over the past three months, Russia has also attacked Ukrainian ports almost 60 times, damaging or destroying almost 300 facilities and 22 civilian vessels.
For example, Ukraine could reopen the airport in the western city of Lviv in 2025 if regulators deem it safe and politicians buy in, a senior insurance company official Marsh McLennan told Reuters.
