Planes Can Fly From Lviv From January 2025 if Politicians and Military Allow

War insurance can enable civilian planes to fly from Lviv airport already from January 2025, according to Crispin Ellison, senior Marsh McLennan partner, who gave an interview to Kyiv Post during the Kyiv International Economic Forum.

Marsh McLennan, a global leader in risk management services, is working on war insurance for cargo ships transporting grain through Ukraine’s Black Sea corridor. It is also negotiating war insurance for planes potentially flying from Ukraine once the sky is safer for flights. 

Ellison emphasized that the market is ready and companies are interested, but the political will and a favorable “military situation” need to be there. If that happens tomorrow, planes will be ready to take off from January 2025. 

“I think we could be ready by the end of January of 2025 if the military situation allows. And, of course, it is a political decision. But there’s been a lot of preparation done towards opening the airport,” the speaker said. 

In this scenario, it would be a low frequency of flights “while we prove the system and build confidence” for the first time, only to increase later. 

Ticket prices if airports reopen during war

If airports reopen, the first flight tickets will be expensive, Ellison said. The premiums that airlines would pay can be higher once flying is not established like during the pre-war schedule. 

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“It will be expensive in the early days when risks are less known. But as you get more flights and it becomes more normal, you would expect the premiums to go down,” he said. 

Premiums are expected to become cheaper after more and more planes feel safe traveling to Ukraine. International low-cost airlines, global national airlines and Ukrainian airlines are interested in returning to operations in Ukraine. “It’s a selection of airlines and I’m not going to name them… there’s plenty of interest there,” Ellison added. 

Lviv and Kyiv should be the first to reopen if the military situation allows

Lviv should be the first airport for a try, because the planes have only 7 minutes to fly before reaching the Polish border. Lviv is also safer than Kyiv for now, even safer than Israel, according to the speaker. 

“Tel Aviv Airport has been attacked more than Lviv airport. It’s as simple as that. Tel Aviv Airport has come under quite a lot of attacks recently. Lviv airport has not. And it may be because the airport is closed,” Ellison explained. 

But the Marsh McLennan senior partner also wants Boryspil, Kyiv’s major airport, to reopen. 

“You have a very nice but small airport in Lviv. But you have a fantastic facility at Boryspil with four terminals,” he said. 

Read the full interview about how to protect assets from risks of war coming soon on Kyiv Post.