New route to western Ukraine
Over the past few years, Danes have been travelling to Eastern Europe like never before, and this trend seems set to continue. Next spring, Wizz Air will open up a new, direct route from the Ukrainian city of Lviv, which is considered the "least Russian" city in Ukraine.
Wizz Air's new route to Lviv will be the third direct route in three years from Ukraine to Copenhagen Airport. And actually, the relatively small city in western Ukraine has much more to offer than a hard-to-pronounce name!
Lviv was founded in the 13th century, and its historic city centre is listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The city avoided being destroyed during the Soviet regime, meaning that the Ukrainian culture and identity is reflected in both the city’s architecture and its atmosphere. Lviv also offers a glimpse into the past, with old-fashioned hotels and trams as the primary means of transportation. The fare is just 66 euro cents.
From 0 to 134,000 seats from Ukraine
When Wizz Air's 180-seater Airbus A320 flight lands at Copenhagen Airport next year, having flown the 998 km from Lviv's Danylo Halytskyi Airport to CPH, it will mark a sea-change in the connections between Copenhagen Airport and the large Eastern European country.
A few years ago, there were in fact no direct flight connections between the two countries, but the route to Lviv is now the third between Ukraine and Copenhagen Airport, taking the total number of seats on departures from Ukraine to CPH to a massive 134,187 – an increase of just over 44% compared with this year.
According to Copenhagen Airports' Commercial Vice President, Peter Krogsgaard, the new route is good news for both Danish commerce and tourism:
"The new route to Lviv is exciting, both for Danish commerce and for the Danish tourism industry. Over the past few years, more and more Danish companies, including those in the IT sector, have expanded their activities in Ukraine, and they will now benefit from better connections. It will also be good news for the Danish tourist sector to have another direct route open up next year to Ukraine, when no services were offered there at all just a few years ago. At the same time, Danes will get another direct route to an exciting destination in Eastern Europe."
At Wizz Air, Corporate Communications Manager Andras Rado had this to say:
“We're thrilled to be adding a new service from Copenhagen to Lviv, operating on Wednesdays and Sundays. Our new low-fare service will be the only direct connection to Lviv and will provide a convenient, affordable travel option for both business and leisure travellers. Underlining our commitment to the country, we’re continuously expanding our Danish network and have already announced four new routes from Denmark this year. We're confident that our customers will appreciate this low-fare connection to Lviv and that this route will be as popular as the other 14 in our Danish network. We will continue to further expand our network footprint and provide truly affordable prices, thus stimulating the local economies of the communities we serve.”
Facts about the route
- The route will be run by the Hungarian-Polish airline Wizz Air (W6) and will be the company's sixth route at CPH.
- The inaugural flight will be on 3 March 2019, and there will be two weekly services after that, on Wednesdays and Sundays.
- The route will be serviced by a 180-seater Airbus A320.
- Lviv is situated in western Ukraine, 70 km from the Polish border and 160 km from the Carpathian mountains.
- Danylo Halytskyi International Airport (LWO) is situated just 6 km from the centre of Lviv and is named after King Daniel of Galicia, who founded the city in 1256.
- The city has many names, including Lvov and Lemberg.