Ukraine’s Aerosvit Cancels Flights, Government Helps Passengers

Aerosvit, Ukraine’s biggest private airline, which is in a bankruptcy procedure, canceled 15 flights and delayed two long-distance flights as the government pledged to find money to take passengers to their destinations.

Six arrivals and nine departures were canceled by the carrier today, Kiev Boryspil Airport said in a statement on its website. Flights from Goa and Bangkok were delayed for more than ten hours, the airport said. Aerosvit is controlled by Ukrainian billionaire Igor Kolomoisky. It operates 80 international routes to 34 countries, according to its website.

The Kiev regional economic court started a bankruptcy procedure against Aerosvit on Dec. 29. over outstanding debts of 4.27 billion hryvnia ($520 million) as of Dec. 27 and assets of 1.47 billion hryvnia as of Nov. 30, according to court documents.

The government pledged to find finances and to lease or rent aircraft to ensure passengers get to their destinations “for this acute period,” Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said in a statement on the government’s website today.