I couldn't have chosen a better time to visit Kiev...

A wave of protests is shaking the Ukraine after its goverment pulled out of an association agreement with the EU...The Ukraine might be at a cross-roads, debating whether it should lean towards the EU or towards Russia, but in the air travel field, at least, things look clearer.

It has been overshadowed by the broader geo-political scuffle, but the Ukraine and the EU have already reached an agreement to liberalize the air travel market, which means that there will be open skies between the EU and the Ukraine. The agreement, that is similar to those signed between the EU and other neighbouring non-member countries will remove, from the summer of 2015, will allow EU and Ukrainian airlines to operate freely between the Ukraine and EU member countries.

If we are to expect the same that has followed other open skies treaties, we could expect European low cost carriers to move quickly into the new market (in this regard, Wizz Air plays with some home advantage as it has been operating a base in Kiev for already a few years).

In order to speak about the new scenario that this agreement represents for the Ukrainian air travel market and in order to get the pulse of the Ukrainian airline industry I went to see Richard Creagh, an Irish man that is executive advisor and former deputy president at Ukraine's largest airline and flag carrier: Ukraine International Airlines (UIA).

Open skies but not yet open borders

"Open skies mean little without a visa agreement", Mr.Creagh is clear on this point.

Indeed, while European Union citizens do not need a visa to visit the Ukraine, Ukrainians do need to apply for one if they want to travel to the EU. This factor alone has deep implications for the Ukrainian air travel industry, as it limits its growth potential. According to Mr.Creagh in the medium to long term air traffic in the Ukraine could grow two to three times faster than GDP. At the moment traffic stands at 14 to 15 million passengers a year, which, in a large country of 45M people, stands as an indicator of the still relative underdevelopment of the air travel market.

Another effect of the visa barrier is the strong focus of Ukrainian leisure carriers on countries such as Turkey, Egypt or Thailand, that do not have visa requirements for Ukrainian nationals.

Between East and West

As current political tensions highlight, the Ukraine has traditionally been a land torn between East and West, but what came as a revelation to me is up to what extent UIA is leveraging this geographical factor to quietly build a considerable hub operation at Kiev Borispol airport: I was stunned to learn that 40% of UIA's traffic are connecting passengers.