Boryspil airport in Kyiv, Ukraine’s biggest airport, saw passenger numbers halve in the first quarter of 2021 year-on-year.

But big plans were announced for an expansion of merchant marine traffic on the Dnipro River.

Figures provided by Boryspil’s press service said a total of 1,206,411 passengers had used the airport – a 50.5 percent plunge from last year’s figure of 2,436,875. But the figure for March 2021 – 534,353 passengers was a 10 percent rise on March 2020, when the Covid pandemic was taking hold.

Boryspil’s air cargo traffic dropped by 12 percent in the first quarter of 2021.

Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry, meanwhile, has approved an investment plan for the state-owned Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company to proceed with a $200 million ship investment programme that would allow it to increase its capacity to carry 4 million tonnes of cargo on the Dnipro River, a 40 percent increase over the river’s 2019 cargo level.

The plan involves building 16 tugs and 31 barges for use on the Dnipro. The Ministry also promised to transfer to the company its river ports and terminals.