---
title: "Opening the Skies Without a Tourism Boom: What the Resumption of Flights in Ukraine Will Really Look Like"
description: "Iryna Mosulezna, Head of Join Up! Ukraine, explains why the resumption of civil flights after four years of closed skies will not lead to an instant tourism boom, but will instead be a cautious and limited launch."
date: 2026-08-20T11:58:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/ukraine-opening-skies-tourism-realistic-scenario
tags: [ukraine-aviation, tourism, air-space, join-up, chisinau, war-logistics]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Opening the Skies Without a Tourism Boom: What the Resumption of Flights in Ukraine Will Really Look Like

![Silhouettes of a passenger and a staff member by the panoramic terminal window with private jets on the apron — a symbol of resuming flights in Ukraine](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/21/ukraine-otkrytie-neba-turizm-realistichnyy-szenariy/ukraine-otkrytie-neba-turizm-realistichnyy-szenariy-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- The resumption of flights will be cautious and limited, not an instant tourism boom; safety is the primary prerequisite.
- In the first stage, individual scheduled flights are likely, with priority given to airports closer to the western border; the decision depends on the state, regulators, and aviation insurance.
- Logistics through neighboring countries remains: according to Join Up!™ internal statistics, more than 237,000 Ukrainian tourists passed through Chisinau, and more than 50,000 through Rzeszów.

After more than four years without civil flights from Ukrainian airports, the very idea of restoring air traffic appears extremely symbolic: it brings back a sense of normalcy, where you no longer need to book a train or bus to a neighboring country to go on vacation, but can travel directly from your own airport. However, according to Iryna Mosulezna, Head of Join Up! Ukraine, the potential opening of the skies before the end of the war is unlikely to resemble a return to pre-war tourism. Most likely, this will not be a story about charter flights filling up resorts, but rather a very cautious, limited, and controlled launch of individual routes — and it is crucial to communicate this in advance so that the expectations of tourists, businesses, and the market do not diverge from the reality of the first stage.

### Safety as the Primary Prerequisite, Not Just a Criterion

Ukrainian airspace has been closed to civil aviation since the first day of the full-scale invasion; therefore, in any discussion about resuming flights, safety remains the primary prerequisite, not just one of many criteria. The initial stage will likely involve numerous restrictions for airlines and airports: this concerns not only the technical readiness of the facilities and the willingness of carriers to return, but also permissible routes, flight schedules, operations within strictly defined intervals, the maximum number of aircraft allowed in the air simultaneously, and the airports' ability to respond quickly to potential air raids.

### Capacity in the Context of Military Risks

A new parameter gains particular importance — airport capacity accounting for military risks. Now, it is not only about how many passengers a facility can serve efficiently per unit of time, but also about how many people can be quickly moved to shelters if the situation requires it. This is why a large tourist flow from Ukraine should not be expected at the start: a more realistic scenario involves individual scheduled flights, gradual testing and debugging of processes, and a very cautious increase in frequency. Tourist destinations may appear later, once it becomes clear what specific restrictions will apply and what the overall system capacity will be.

### Western Airports and the Role of the State, Regulators, and Insurers

The decision to open specific airports is not a matter of tour operators' or airlines' wishes: it will depend on the state, defense forces, regulators, international partners, and the aviation insurance market. From a practical standpoint, it is logical to assume that in the early stages, airports located closer to the western border will have a better chance: the less time an aircraft spends in Ukrainian airspace, the lower the risks and the easier it is to plan a flight within established restrictions. Airports located further from the border may return to civil flights in subsequent stages, when conditions become more stable and predictable.

### Logistics Through Neighboring Countries Will Not Automatically Cease

Even a partial opening of the skies does not mean the automatic cessation of the logistics already established through neighboring countries: over the past years, it has become understandable, familiar, and less stressful for Ukrainian tourists than at the beginning of the full-scale war. In fact, Ukrainian tourists have learned to travel without their own airports, with airports in neighboring countries becoming the main departure points. Chisinau has become a key hub: according to Join Up!™ internal statistics, more than 237,000 Ukrainian tourists used this airport last year. For comparison, Rzeszów airport, the second most popular according to the same data, was used by more than 50,000 tourists. Chisinau's advantage is relatively convenient logistics and usually faster border crossing, making Moldova a more practical option for tourists from the east, south, center, and partially Kyiv than traveling through a country under potential air raid alerts to the Polish border.

### What This Means for Tourists and the Market

The conclusion of the expert assessment is that resuming flights is not an instant return to pre-war flows, but a multi-stage, managed process where safety is the priority, and tourist destinations appear only after restrictions and capacity are debugged. For the market, this is a signal for cautious planning, and for tourists, it means that the familiar logistics through Chisinau and Rzeszów will remain a working option throughout the transition period until the system is ready for a wider opening.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [How the skies will be opened in Ukraine: a realistic look at the future of tourism](https://wave.rbc.ua/ukr/trips/k-vidkrivatimut-nebo-ukrayini-realistichniy-1787226354.html) - Основной источник: эксклюзивный материал с главой Join Up! Украины Ириной Мосулезной. Оговорки: цифры по Кишиневу и Жешуву — внутренняя статистика Join Up!™; сценарии открытия неба — экспертные прогнозы, а не официальные решения.
- [Russia to discuss resumption of flights with Egypt](https://www.interfax-russia.ru/tourism/news/rossiya-obsudit-s-egiptom-vozobnovlenie-poletov) - Использован только как общий контекст по теме возобновления авиасообщения; не подтверждает и не опровергает ключевые факты по Украине.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: Will the resumption of flights in Ukraine lead to an instant tourism boom?
**A:** No. According to Iryna Mosulezna, this will be a cautious, limited, and controlled launch of individual routes, not charter flights filling up resorts; tourist destinations may appear later, after restrictions are debugged.

### Q: Which airports have a better chance of opening first?
**A:** Most likely, airports closer to the western border, since the aircraft spends less time in Ukrainian airspace, reducing risks and simplifying planning within restrictions.

### Q: Will logistics through neighboring countries remain after the skies open?
**A:** Yes, a partial opening of the skies does not mean the automatic cessation of logistics through neighboring countries. According to Join Up!™ internal statistics, more than 237,000 Ukrainian tourists passed through Chisinau, and more than 50,000 through Rzeszów.