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By Yuliia Dysa
(Reuters) - Wartime Ukraine could reopen a first airport in its western Lviv region next year, as it tries to restore air travel that has been suspended nationwide since Russia's 2022 invasion, a senior partner at insurance broker Marsh McLennan said.
Moscow has regularly conducted missile and drone strikes on Ukraine during more than 2-1/2 years of fighting. Ukraine's national flag carrier and several other companies have gone bankrupt due to the suspension of air travel.
Kyiv has taken part in discussions with European aviation authorities and airlines on restoring some air travel for almost a year, Crispin Ellison of Marsh McLennan told Reuters.
"If regulators agree it is safe to open it and a political decision is made, the insurance industry is ready to support the recovery efforts," Ellison said, referring to 2025.
The State Aviation Service said in written comments it was considering the possibility of a phased and limited opening of airspace for civil aviation "provided the risks are assessed and reduced to an acceptable level, and additional security measures are implemented". It did not provide any timeframe.
Ensuring the safety of the airspace is a primary task and "there has been a lot of work around this challenge", Ellison said. He did not provide additional details.
Lviv region, which borders Poland, rarely comes under Russian strikes compared to other parts of Ukraine, although Russian troops have attacked its gas infrastructure and fired drones and missiles at it.
The airport has two terminals and had the capacity to serve up to 3,000 passengers per hour before the war.
Marsh McLennan has been supporting the Ukrainian government to put together an insurance facility to cover commercial aviation, Ellison said. The broker already runs an insurance programme for ships carrying all cargos via Ukraine's Black Sea corridor.
The aviation sector is involved in the talks, he said.
"National carriers, low-cost and Ukrainian airlines (are) all expressing an interest and looking at whether they do this."
The Ukrainian government is also keen to reopen the country's main airport just outside Kyiv but Ellison believes the aviation market is waiting "until confidence has been gained that this can happen in a much lower-risk scenario".
Kyiv and the surrounding region are regularly targeted by Russian long-range attacks.
The infrastructure ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; editing by Tom Balmforth and Ros Russell)
