«Open skies» are in summer 2015

The agreement on joint air space between Ukraine and countries of the European Union is expected to be signed on June 5, 2014 at the meeting of the EU Council of Ministers, the Minister for Infrastructure Maxim Burbak said, according to the ministerial department.

«We prepared and handed over all necessary documents to our European colleagues, but they need time to enter amendments, consequently the agreement was not signed on March 14, 2014. However, during the meeting with Yan Tombinsky we agreed the deadline for signing this agreement will be  June 5, 2014, the day the meeting of the EU Council of Ministers will be held», - Maxim Burbak underlined.

Additionally, the Minister said today he hold round table talks with representatives of the trade unions, airlines, both the Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and discussed the Ministry of Infrastructure’s readiness to sign the joint airspace agreement with the EU.

«This industry’s trade union is apprehending job cuts to be done by the Ukrainian companies after the European “low-cost” airlines enter the market. This won’t happen. The agreement comes into force only  in summer 2015, when navigation starts being controlled, so our airlines will have time to undertake some adaptive measures that help them be ready for «open skies», - Maxim Burbak said.

In his opinion, to avail of the opportunities the agreement provides, Ukraine should work out, agree and embed over 100 regulative documents, so far as the said agreement envisages not only an open access of the European air carriers to the domestic market, but also obligatory certification of the air carrier industry. «This means that after signing the agreement a laborious task we are to solve is to harmonize our legislation with the European laws», - the Minister said.

Mr. Burbak noted that ordinary Ukrainians will also benefit from conclusion of this agreement. «It is expected that the prices of flights throughout Europe will drop down. We’ll try to match the domestic flight prices, too.  And to make the most of it, it is necessary to introduce a visa=free regime with the EU», - he said.

Besides, Maxim Burbak informed of sending the letter to his Israel colleague suggesting signing similar agreement with Israel, the US reply on joint airspace is being expected, too.