Airline offers flights over Chernobyl nuclear disaster area.
Tourism to the Chernobyl area – where the worst nuclear disaster in history occurred – has become popular in recent years, but now Ukraine International Airlines is organizing flights to the city to give tourists a different perspective. The next trip is scheduled for Sunday, April 25.
The 90-minute flight over Chernobyl gives passengers an aerial view of the abandoned buildings in the ghost town of Pripyat, once home to nuclear workers, as well as the massive domed structure that now covers the reactor that exploded on April 26, 1986.
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For about $106 (2,970 Ukrainian hryvnia), participants will get a seat on the Embraer 195 taking off from Boryspil airport in Kiev.
According to the airline’s description, it will be possible to “take a photo in the cockpit and take a selfie with the pilot.” The ticket also includes a treat for aviation buffs with a visit to a Boeing 777 parked on the tarmac at Boryspil.
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Guides from Chernobyl Tour, a well-known Ukrainian company specializing in Exclusion Zone tourism, will provide information during the flight.
The disaster, which occurred during a failed safety test at the plant 110 kilometers north of the capital, Kiev, forced tens of thousands of people to leave the area permanently. This left behind wildlife that thrived in the contaminated area.
Right after the disaster, 31 plant workers and firefighters died, mostly from acute radiation sickness. Thousands more later succumbed to radiation-related illnesses, such as cancer; however, the total number of deaths and the long-term health effects remain a matter of intense debate.
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