Economic sciences/13. Regional economy

Senior Lecturer Khytrova O.A.

Student Kharytonova Y.Y.

Chernivtsi Trade and Economics Institute of KNUTE, Ukraine

Influence of the international airports of Ukraine on the Ukrainian tourism economy

The development of air transport and tourism is a closely interconnected process. Modern tourism has achieved a significant level of development in many ways through the using of transport. With the advent of air transport, the process of transportation for the tourist became easy and convenient. Now, every traveler, using the services of air transport, feels quite comfortable and receives only pleasure from the flight at different distances [5, p. 165].

Today, the main problems of the development of the Ukrainian aviation industry are: depreciation of fixed assets, shortage of skilled personnel, lack of state support for the creation of new technologies, absence of state support program for development of air transport and aircraft building systems, the rigid tax policy of the state relative to the aviation industry, the increased economic risk of the management of airlines, the large number of formalities for international air transportation and the traffic of airports and airspace [4, p. 217].

In Ukraine, there are 1,500 aircrafts owned by about 110 airlines. Airplanes of Ukrainian airlines make flights to 36 countries of the world in 105 routes. There are 36 airports in Ukraine and 17 of them are international entry points. The largest airports in Ukraine are Boryspil, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kharkiv and others. The air gate of Ukraine is Boryspil airport. International air lines connect Ukraine with the countries of Europe, America, Asia and Africa [3, p. 302].

In 2016 commercial flights of domestic and foreign airlines served 19 Ukrainian airports and airfields. The international passenger traffic of Ukrainian airports in 2016 amounted to 293,700 people. Passenger traffic in % of Ukrainian airports in 2016 you can see in the picture 1.

Pic.1 Passenger traffic of airports of Ukraine in %, 2016 [1]

According to the picture 1, we can say that Boryspil airport has the highest indicator of passenger traffic (68%), it is caused by impeccable infrastructure and high quality of service. The indicators of Zhuliany, Odesa, Lviv and Kharkiv airports have practically the same values. In contrast to Boryspil airport they need further improvement.

According to the results of the first quarter of 2017, Ukraine's airports have considerably increased passenger traffic. Thus, Lviv airport has shown an increase of 51% (compared with the first quarter of 2016). «Kharkiv» generally reports growth of 60-70%. Boryspil is growing at a slower pace, but is becoming more prominent among the capital's air gates. After appointing the general director, the airport reported about 32% of the increase.

To determine the impact of international airports on the Ukrainian tourism economy, we will analyze the functioning of the two largest airports – Boryspil and Lviv.

Boryspil International Airport is Ukraine's largest passenger airport, which provides over 57% of Ukrainian aviation passenger traffic and serves over 8 million passengers every year. This is the only airport in Ukraine that operates transcontinental flights. The airport is a member of IATA, ICAO and ACI Europe.

In 2017, the Boryspil airport reached record indicators, which are given in the table 1.

Table 1

The main indicators of Boryspil airport activity, 2016-2017 [1]

Indicators	2016	2017
Passenger traffic, mln people	6,5	8,07
Net profit, bn UAH	1,2	1,63
Payment in favor of the state, UAH	924 mln	1,44 bn

According to the table 1, we can conclude that the profit of the airport has increased to 1,63 billion UAH in 2017, and payments to the state and local budgets have risen to UAH 1,44 billion in 2017. For comparison: in 2016, Borispol finished with a profit of over 1,2 billion UAH. The operational indicators of the airport have improved with considerable dynamics. During three quarters of this year, the passenger traffic of «Boryspil» has grown to 8,07 million people (6,5 million for 9 months of 2016).

In general, according to the results of 2017, Boryspil airport plans to increase the passenger traffic to more than 10 million passengers.

International airport «Lviv» named after Danylo Halytskyi – the largest airport in Western Ukraine by passenger traffic and route chain.

The results of activity of Lviv airport in 2017 are shown in the table 2.

Table 2

The main indicators of Lviv airport activity, 2016-2017 [2]

Indicators	2016	2017
Passenger traffic, thousands people	625,5	918,4
Net profit, thousand UAH	73, 05	102,05
Number of flights, thousands	7,38	10,08

According to the table 2 we can see that passenger traffic of «Lviv» has grown to 918,4 thousand people (625,5 thousand for 9 month of 2016). The profit of the airport has increased to 102,05 thousand UAH in 2017, while in 2016 this indicator was 73,05 thousand UAH. The number of flights increased from 7,38 thousand in 2016 to 10,08 thousand in 2017.

In general, Lviv airport has all the prospects to meet a millionth passenger already in late December 2017 and significantly increase its profits.

Thus, after analyzing and comparing the two largest airports of Ukraine, we can conclude that «Boryspil» and «Lviv» are prosperous airports with excellent infrastructure and high quality of service due to high indicators of passenger traffic and profit. Improving Ukrainian airports helps to attract more tourists and actively develop tourism. To improve the functioning of the airports in Ukraine, we propose: 1. To integrate into the system of leading European transfer airports. 2. To develop the infrastructure of airports for satisfaction the clients. 3. To raise the level of corporate culture. 4. To reduce the harmful effects on the environment.

All in all, air transport is an important part of the successful development of the tourism industry. Today, air transportations have become very popular, so airports are the starting points for tourists to start their journey. In addition, international flights contribute to the increasing influx of tourists from other countries and help them establish mutually beneficial links and maintain long-term economic relations.

Literature:

1. International airport «Boryspil».

Available at: https://kbp.aero/docs/Finance_Plan_2017.pdf

2. International airport «Lviv».

Available at: http://lwo.aero/uk/news2017

3. Malska M. P., Khudo V. V. Turystychnyi biznes: teoriia ta praktyka [Tourism business: theory and practice]. Kyiv, Tsentr uchbovoi literatury Publ., 2007. 424 p.

4. Osypova O. Y. Transportne obsluhovuvania turystiv [Transport service for tourists]. Moscow, Vydavnuchyi tsentr «Akademia», 2004. 368 p.

5. Vysotska I. I. Stan ta perspektyvy rozvytku pasazhyrskyh aviaciinyh perevezen na vnutrishnih liniiah Ukrainy [State and prospects of development of passenger aviation transportations on the internal lines of Ukraine]. Kyiv, DNU, 2004. 602 p.