President's Office on possibility of re-opening airport in Uzhhorod: Question on hold

Uzhhorod International Airport has been transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to serve as a European civil defense aviation hub, making it unsuitable for regular passenger flights even if airspace reopens, said Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Viktor Mykyta in an interview with LB.ua.

Mykyta, who previously served as the governor of Zakarpattya Oblast, explained that the airport could potentially handle charter flights, which are non-scheduled.

"The Uzhhorod airport can accommodate charter civilian flights, which are non-scheduled. The Ministry of Internal Affairs' policy allows this. The State Emergency Service is involved in civil aviation, not military. There cannot be military aircraft there; the logistics are generally unsuitable," he said.

Another issue with the Uzhhorod airport is its remote location, making it more convenient for passengers from other regions to travel to Polish airports, Mykyta added.

"The distance to Zakarpattya from Kyiv is 800 kilometers. From Kharkiv, it's even further. If you look at the logistics, sometimes it's easier to take a train to a Polish airport and fly from there to various destinations rather than traveling to Zakarpattya. We need to improve the roads and railway connections," he said.

The Uzhhorod airport has been largely non-operational since 2016, except for a few months in 2019 when the airline Motor Sich attempted to operate flights, and a few months in 2021-2022 before the Russian full-scale invasion.

One of the main issues with the airport is its proximity to the Slovak border, which requires aircraft to enter Slovak airspace for takeoff and landing in Uzhhorod.

In 2020, an agreement was signed between the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers and the Slovak government regarding the use of Slovak airspace by Ukraine. This agreement came into effect on June 5, 2021, and the delegation of Slovak airspace to Ukrainian management began on September 9, 2021.

Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak has mentioned the possibility of reopening one of Ukraine's airports before the end of the war, most recently at the beginning of 2024.