The Belarussian national airline, Belavia, which had confirmed plans to cease its Shannon to Minsk winter operation from next Thursday, has announced it will reinstate the service from December 9th and may increase the frequency of its flights next summer.
Belavia announced in August it would pull its winter operation from October 25th and would decide on its summer schedule at a later date. At the time, Belavia cited "poor performance on the route, coupled with rising operating costs" as the reason.
Belavia has confirmed it will relaunch its winter schedule with a weekly service and that its summer operation could increase from two to three flights weekly.
Belavia spokesman Igor Kirsanov said yesterday: "We have made this decision in the past 24 hours and will launch a new schedule using Minsk as a hub for other major airports like Moscow, St Petersburg and Kiev
"There is a large Russian and Ukrainian population in the midwest and they will now have access to Moscow, St Petersburg and Kiev through Minsk."
When Belavia announced its decision in August, a high-level delegation led by the Chernobyl Children's Project executive director, Adi Roche, travelled to London to make an appeal on behalf of the Irish people to the Belarussian ambassador.
The ambassador said the airline would assist in any way it could during holiday periods to ensure Chernobyl volunteers could get to Belarus to continue their work.
Ms Roche said yesterday Belavia has listened to the Irish people, and to the families who year after year take children into their homes.
The news has also been welcomed by the Shannon Airport Authority. Around 9,000 passengers use the service annually, 2,000 of those during the winter.