Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said the company is ready to deploy capacity in Ukraine, preparing a return to the war-torn country.
O'Leary said in an interview Reuters that Ryanair would have two million seats deployed within six weeks of resuming flights in Ukraine, adding that it would have five million passengers in Ukraine within a year or two.
The comments come as US President Donald Trump promised to end the Ukraine war soon.
The airline aims to open bases in Kyiv and Lviv within a year of this. The return to some airports in the country might be delayed due to damage inflicted upon them by the war, which began with the invasion of Russia in February 2022.
In July 2023, Ryanair had announced a $3bn post-war Ukraine growth and investment plan. The plan would “rapidly rebuild” Ukraine's aviation industry after the war and flights were allowed. His comments to the outlet reiterate his previous statement of offering over five million seats within one year, as well as aiming to deploy over 10 million seats over a five year period. The company said it would offer flights to and from Ukraine within eight weeks of the Ukrainian airspace reopening.
At the time, Ryanair said it plans to open daily domestic flights between Kyiv, Lviv, and Odesa, as soon as those airports are able to handle them. In April 2022, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said the Odesa runway had been destroyed by a Russian missile strike. In addition, the Mykolaiv airport was destroyed in 2022, with local outlets reporting that it would need €13 million to be restored.