Ukraine's Ministry of Infrastructure does not rule out the possibility of allowing foreign air carriers to perform domestic flights if Ukrainian companies keep prices for flights inside the country high, Vice Prime Minister, Infrastructure Minister Borys Kolesnikov has said.
"If the airlines continue this policy, we will be forced into 'cabotage', i.e. to open the market 100%, so that western airlines could fly from one Ukrainian city to another. However, ordinary people, including pilots and flight attendants, will suffer from this," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.
Kolesnikov said that talks between the authorities and Ukrainian air carriers to reduce fares are continuing and have to be completed by the end of the year.
"The talks have to be completed by the launch of the summer schedule. To be more exact, they should be completed by the end of the year and come into force by March, as the companies will not be able to cut fares [until then]," Kolesnikov said.
