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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Kyiv International Airport

Igor Sikorsky Kyiv International Airport (Zhuliany) (Ukrainian: Міжнародний аеропорт «Київ» імені Ігоря Сікорського (Жуляни)) (IATA: IEV, ICAO: UKKK) is one of the two passenger airports of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the other being Boryspil International Airport. It is owned by the municipality of Kyiv and located in the Zhuliany neighbourhood, about seven kilometres (four nautical miles) southwest of the city centre. Aside from facilitating regular passenger flights, Kyiv International Airport is also the main business aviation airport in Ukraine, and one of the busiest business aviation hubs in Europe.

History

Early years

The airport began in 1923 as a military airfield co-used by the Ukrpovitroshlyakh (Ukrainian Society of Air Communications), Ukraine's earliest civil aviation company, which in 1934 was integrated into Aeroflot as the latter's regional administration. The airport terminal was built only after World War II in 1949. Until the 1960s, Zhuliany was the only passenger airport serving Kyiv.

In 1959, the larger Boryspil International Airport was built near the city of Boryspil, gradually replacing Zhuliany as the main airport serving Kyiv. Since that time the old "Kyiv" airport became commonly known just as "Zhuliany" (or Kyiv-Zhuliany) and was used for Soviet domestic flights only.

International flights and traffic revival

After Ukraine regained independence in 1991, Zhuliany began receiving international flights from nearby countries (first from its former Soviet "domestic" destinations), increasingly so since the 2000s when Ukraine's civil aviation started booming. On 27 March 2011, Wizz Air, a European low-cost airline, moved all its operations to Zhuliany from Boryspil, bringing around-the-clock flights to the airport and increasing passenger traffic by 15 to 20%.

In 2012, the airport managed to survive the European cold wave without major flight delays or cancellations.

Surrounded by major railways, highways and residential districts, the airport has limited possibilities to expand its runway. Therefore, it is limited in the weight of aircraft that are allowed to fly in the airport (currently up to Boeing 737/Airbus A320 type). In 2013, the airport declared plans to expand the runway for additional 150 m, although stressing complete safety and operability of its current length. Other parts of the airport infrastructure are also being developed. The new "A" terminal opened on 17 May 2012, now receives all international and some domestic flights. Projects for expanding Zhuliany's taxiways and aircraft parking lots are being considered as well.

Recent developments

In the first half of 2013, the airport's passenger traffic rose 2.7-fold (to 816,757 passengers per year) since the beginning of the year, including 4.2-fold growth of the domestic traffic. According to the media and industry experts, once underdog Zhuliany Airport has rapidly grown into a major, and more efficient, competitor to the country's leading Boryspil Airport.

As of July 2013, Moscow, Treviso and Dortmund were the most popular international destinations from the airport, with Simferopol, Donetsk and Odesa leading among domestic destinations. Also in 2013, the airport opened a new domestic terminal and a new business terminal, with currently 3 terminals in service.

In March 2015, Wizz Air Ukraine announced that it would cease operations leading to the cancellation of several routes from their base at the airport. Only some of their former routes were taken over by its parent, Wizz Air, though the airline has since expanded its flight network from the airport, with twenty destinations to be served by August 2017.

Between 14 and 24 May 2017, the airport was closed for runway improvement work.

On 22 March 2018, the Kyiv City Council officially renamed the airport International Airport "Kyiv" (Zhulyany) Igor Sikorsky in honor of Igor Sikorsky.

On 24 February 2022, five explosions erupted as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On the same day, Ukraine closed airspace to civilian flights.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines had operated regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Kyiv International Airport (Zhuliany) in the weeks prior to the suspension of Ukrainian airspace (on 24 February 2022):

AirlinesDestinations
LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw–Chopin
Motor Sich Airlines Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia
Pegasus Airlines Seasonal: Dalaman

Neighboring aviation facilities

  • In 2003, the Ukraine State Aviation Museum was created in one of the industrial estates neighboring the airport. It is the largest aviation museum in Ukraine, exhibiting some unique Soviet examples including original prototypes for famous airliners.

Statistics

Terminal building
The original, Soviet-built passenger terminal served as the domestic terminal until mid-2013.
Annual passenger traffic at IEV airport. See Wikidata query.
Year Passengers Change
2002 258,800
2016 1,127,500 Increase19.4%
2017 1,851,700 Increase67.3%
2018 2,812,300 Increase51.9%
2019 2,617,900 Decrease6.9%
2020 690,300 Decrease73.6%

Ground transportation

Road

The airport is connected to the city's main highway infrastructure via Povitroflotskyi Avenue and served by a number of city transport routes, including:

As well as private bus routes. Car parking facilities at the airport itself are limited, but long-term parking can be found in the airport's immediate vicinity. Taxis can often be found waiting directly outside the terminal, in the passenger drop-off/pick-up area.

Rail

The airport's old passenger terminal is located about 0.5 km away from the Kyiv-Volynskyi rail station – a stop for elektrichka commuter trains as well as for the intracity Urban Electric Train service.

See also

References

  1. ^ Code IATA «IeV» from old soviet transliteration Kiev. KIE was already used by Kieta Airport
  2. ^ Статистика пасажиропотоку IEV (in Ukrainian).
  3. ^ "Жуляны" настроены по-деловому ["Juliani" set up to do business]. Коммерсантъ (in Russian). Kommersant.ua. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  4. ^ Wizz Air перевела свої рейси з Борисполя в Жуляни [Wizz Air has transferred its flights from Boryspil to Juliani]. News.bigmir.net (in Russian). 25 September 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  5. ^ Столичні аеропорти працюють у штатному режимі [The capital's airports are operating in normal mode]. Kiev.unian.net (in Ukrainian). 14 February 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  6. ^ ЧП в Жулянах: авиакомпания жалуется на посадочную полосу, аэропорт намекает на ошибку экипажа [Problem at Zhuliany: Airline complains about the runway, airport implies crew error]. Korrespondent.net (in Russian). 13 July 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  7. ^ "Kolesnikov opens new terminal at Kyiv Airport". Kyiv Post. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  8. ^ "Digital Journal: Ukraine opens second airport in Kyiv". Kyiv Post. 22 May 2012. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  9. ^ Аэропорт Жуляны похвалился трехкратным ростом пассажиропотока в 2013 [Juliani Airport boasting a three-fold increase in passenger traffic in 2013]. Korrespondent.net (in Russian). 9 July 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  10. ^ Киев уходит в небо. Аэропорт Жуляны превращается в младшего брата-счастливчика не слишком успешного Борисполя [Kyiv is heading for the skies. Juliani airport is turning to the success of its younger brother, Boryspil] (in Russian). Korrespondent.net. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Kyiv international airport opens business terminal". Kyiv Post. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  12. ^ "Wizz Air Further Restructures Ukrainian Operations". Wizzair.com. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  13. ^ Аеропорт "Жуляни" закриють на капітальний ремонт. 5 канал (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Аеропорт "Київ" отримав нове ім'я" [Kyiv airport received a new name], Українська правда, 22 March 2018, retrieved 16 August 2018
  15. ^ "[1]." Reuters. Retrieved on February 24, 2022. "Ukraine closes airspace to civilian flights amid Russian military action."
  16. ^ iev.aero – Flight search retrieved 14 November 2020
  17. ^ "Ukraine airspace closed to civilian flights". www.bbc.com. 24 February 2022.
  18. ^ ""Мотор Сич" возобновлят полеты Одесса-Киев". 7 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Аэропорт Киев Жуляны: как доехать, авиабилеты, такси, расписание". Aviation Today. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  20. ^ "Авиакомпании и аэропорты Украины: итоги работы в 2016 году". Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  21. ^ "Статистика Міжнародного аеропорту "Київ", грудень 2017. Підсумки року". Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  22. ^ "Аэропорт Жуляны подобрался к отметке в 3 млн пассажиров". 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  23. ^ "Статистика пасажиропотоку IEV".
  24. ^ "Статистика пасажиропотоку IEV".
  25. ^ iev.aero – Directions to airport retrieved 21 June 2018

Media related to Kyiv International Airport (Zhuliany) at Wikimedia Commons