Ukrainian National Airlines

Ukrainian National Airlines is a future state airline to be founded by the Ukrainian government with the purpose of gaining control of the country's aviation industry and establishing an airline that meets Western standards of transparency. The initiative was started by the current Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his administration, and was revealed at a symposium at Kyiv's Boryspil International Airport. Zelenskyy stated he wishes to establish a state airline rivaling to those such as Turkish Airlines and Singapore Airlines. His reasoning for this initiative is that he believes the country is too reliant on private airlines and the current aviation sector of Ukraine is too heavily influenced by oligarchs like Ihor Kolomoisky, who is currently sanctioned by the US and is seen as a corrupt thorn in Ukraine's side. The administration has signed a memorandum of understanding with Europe's main airplane manufacturer, Airbus, that will establish a fleet of Airbuses such as the Airbus A220, A320, A330, and A350 aircraft. This is seen as a sign of further cooperation and integration of Ukraine into the European market, and as a way to reform Ukraine's aviation sector with European oversight. Initially Ukraine planed to invest as much as $1.3 billion in the development of its aviation sector between 2021 and 2030, with the launch of the airline taking place in 2022, but because of the Russo-Ukrainian War, plans for the launch of the airline have been delayed until the war's conclusion. Currently as of 2024, the plan still has the go-ahead, with the logo and livery being created by Bohdan Hdal at the request of the Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov. According to the artist himself, President Zelenskyy had a direct input into the design of the logo, where he heavily emphasized the need for the logo to reflect the Ukrainian national identity. This led to a design which reflected the style of Heorhiy Narbut, who was a famous Ukrainian graphic designer in the late 1800's and early 1900's.