Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said that regional airports in Ukraine should be developed, as the role of the country in the European aviation market has grown.

"Ukraine is becoming an important player in the European air transport market. In this context, it is important to strengthen the role of the Boryspil airport as a regional hub and work together with international partners on the development of regional airports," the government's press service reported, citing Groysman speaking at a special government meeting devoted to the situation in the aviation industry.

According to the report, for the nine months ending September 2018 the year-over-year growth was 15.5%, and by the end of the year, the absolute figure of passenger traffic is expected to be about 20 million passengers.

According to the prime minister, today a third of the air traffic is transit passengers, who choose Kyiv as the place of transfer.

"At the same time, the development of regional airports is important. Odesa, Lviv, Kharkiv, Kherson - passenger traffic is also growing there. We need to make a global program for their development. I will offer specific projects for the development of airports to international partners," Groysman said.