Within the Ukraine, an unusual competition is looming on the Kiev (Schuljany) -Odessa route, because the low-cost airline Bees Airlines wants to stand up to the old-timer operator Motor Sich Airlines.

The two players compete with extremely different aircraft, because top dog Motor Sich usually flies with the aging model Antonov An-24. The challenger relies on the Boeing 737-800. Both providers are indirectly competing with other airlines such as Windrose and SkyUp, but they head for the remote Borispil Airport.

Motor Sich Airlines does not want to hand over the Kiev (Schuljany) -Odessa route without a fight, but is already reducing frequencies before Bees Airlines enters the market. The Antonov operator announced that on working days only the simple daily border from Odessa to Kiev will be offered. Double the daily margin was offered up to and including September 23, 2021. Aviation Direct published a few weeks ago about Motor Sich Airlines and the Antonov An-24 model a detailed portrait.

Domestic flights are only a means to an end

Bees Airlines plans to start the domestic route on October 14, 2021 and initially fly on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. This is not entirely by chance, because several new routes are being announced from Odessa: Prague (from October 21, 2021), Ganja (from November 1, 2021) and Tbilisi (from October 21, 2021). The Yerevan route continues. In the Ukrainian city on the Black Sea, no base is being set up, but the Boeing 737-800 planes are flying in from Kiev-Schuljany. Passengers are also transported on these “transfer devices”, thus competing with the competitor Motor Sich Airlines. In terms of price, the two providers don’t give each other very much.

So it is inevitable that Kiev-Schuljany Airport will also have to think about the capacity of the domestic terminal (D). This is extremely small and designed primarily for the handling of Antonov An-24. It is already getting very tight when Motor Sich Airlines handles the three domestic destinations almost at the same time. The occupancy rate of the almost 50-seaters is usually high. If there is also a fully booked Boeing 737-800, things get really tight. Incidentally, this also applies to arrival, because in the domestic terminal you only have a very small baggage carousel and the room is not exactly large.

Incidentally, Bees Airlines plans to add further destinations from Kiev-Schuljany. These are Antalya and Sharjah. Helsinki and Smarkand were also on sale for a short time, but these are not included due to lack of demand. A few weeks ago Aviation Direct introduced Bees Airlines, which was only launched this year in a test portrait .