Ukraine will create its own national air carrier – Zelenskyy

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was starting to create a national carrier Ukrainian National Airlines.

He stated this at the opening of the "Big Construction: Tourism and Aviation" forum, the Rubryka correspondent reports.

"Today is an important day. We are giving back to the world the idea of ​​a European aircraft. Ukraine has all the facilities for the full cycle of modern aircraft. It's not easy, but we are already doing it. We have all the facilities for mass production and comprehensive support…

We create our airports, build them, and a large number are already under construction. We are taking a new powerful step; this is our national air carrier. The creation of which will be officially started today. There were several working names, but today it is Ukrainian National Airlines," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who spoke after the president, said that Ukraine had signed an agreement on the so-called second visa-free regime and open skies, which would optimize the partnership with Europe and open the Ukrainian market slots that had been closed to date.

The importance of the agreement was also stressed by the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov.

"The key achievement of this year is the so-called second visa-free travel, which we have been working on since 2013. Ukraine and the European Union have become even closer. This agreement is unique because we have defended our interests as a country that builds aircraft. And we have confirmed our status as a country of the European Union.

This opens up a vast market for our airlines. It will be much easier for them to enter markets that had not been available. We are also open to 500 million potential tourists from EU countries," Kubrakov said.

The Minister of Infrastructure also noted that the creation of a national airline will not be a problem for private carriers. Such conclusions were made by both Ukrainian experts and French consultants.

"Today we celebrate the birthday of the new national carrier. We understand the market, which is a little scared. But our calculations prove that it is being restored and we will all have enough space. We will not compete fiercely with private businesses and everything will be fine. Due to the growth of the market, we will all have enough space in it," Kubrakov said.