3 new flights launched from Kyiv — to Oslo, Athens, Thessaloniki

Two international airlines — Scandinavian Airlines and low-cost Wizz Air — have launched new direct flights from Ukraine to Norway and Greece, the companies announced on May 21.

Scandinavian Airlines will start flying from Kyiv to Oslo, the capital of Norway, three times a week beginning October 26. This will be the only direct flight connecting the two countries.

The airline, however, has specified neither the airports involved, nor the price of the ticket. Its website flysas.com is currently unavailable.

“The future direct flight between Kyiv and Oslo will contribute to the further enhancement of economic cooperation,” Ukrainian Ambassador to Norway Viacheslav Yatsiuk said on May 21. “More Ukrainian visitors will have the opportunity to discover the magical beauty of the land of Vikings and fjords.”

Airports in Norway have also pledged to begin transliterating the capital of Ukraine as “Kyiv” in English, instead of “Kiev.” The former reflects the Ukrainian spelling, while the latter reflects the Russian spelling.

Meanwhile, Wizz Air has already launched its two new flights to Greece: to the capital of Athens and to the country’s second largest city, Thessaloniki. Each flight operates twice a week.

These are not the only direct flights to Greece: Ryanair, Ukrainian International Airlines, and Aegan have nonstop options, too. Ryanair and Wizz Air offer the cheapest flights, roughly $50–100 one-way.

This will be Wizz Air’s 45th and 46th low-cost routes connecting Ukraine with 13 other countries. The airline flies from Kyiv’s Zhulyany International Airport (recently renamed Sikorskiy International). In January–April, Wizz Air has already serviced 680,000 passengers in Ukraine.

However, not every airline has found routes between Ukraine and Europe to be profitable. British Airways plans to halt its direct Kyiv–London flight, which currently operate six times a week, on October 3. The airline said this route “is no longer commercially viable.” UIA, Ryanair and Wizz Air will continue to cover this route, arriving at London’s Gatwick, Stansted and Luton airports from Kyiv’s Boryspil.

Since May 2017, when a visa-free travel agreement with the European Union came into force, over 2 million Ukrainians have made use of it to visit Schengen Zone states.

Today, every Ukrainian with a biometric passport can travel to 30 European countries for a period of 90 days every 180 days without receiving a visa or submitting any documents prior to the trip. And Ukrainians have made over 33 million trips to these countries, according to the Ukrainian Mission to the EU.

Ukrainians still need a visa to visit the United Kingdom.