Ukraine International Airlines

Ukraine International Airlines PJSC, often shortened to UIA (Ukrainian: Авіакомпанія Міжнародні Авіалінії України, romanized: Aviakompaniya Mizhnarodni Avialiniyi Ukrayiny, IPA: [ˌɑwijɐkomˈpɑn⁽ʲ⁾ijɐ miʒnɐˈrɔdn⁽ʲ⁾i ˌɑwijɐˈl⁽ʲ⁾in⁽ʲ⁾iji ʊkrɐˈjinɪ]), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Ukraine,[2] with its head office in Kyiv[3] and its main hub at Kyiv's Boryspil International Airport. It operates domestic and international passenger flights and cargo services to Europe, the Middle East, the United States,[4] Canada,[5] and Asia.

"Ukraine Airlines" redirects here. For other uses, see List of airlines of Ukraine.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA)
Міжнародні Авіалінії України (МАУ)
IATA ICAO Callsign
PS AUI UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL
Founded1 October 1992
HubsKyiv–Boryspil
Frequent-flyer programPanorama Club
Fleet size35
Destinations88
Parent companyCapital Investment Project LLC (74%)
HeadquartersKyiv, Ukraine
Key peopleEvgeny Dykhne, President[1]
Websitewww.flyuia.com

History

Early history
A Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-200 in 1998

Established on 1 October 1992, the airline started operations on 25 November 1992 with a Kyiv-London flight. It became one of the first "joint ventures with foreign capital" in Ukraine and the first airline in the former Soviet Union to use new Boeing 737-400 aircraft. The founding shareholders were the Ukrainian Association of Civil Aviation and Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA), an Irish aircraft-leasing company.

The airline began cargo operations with a Boeing 737-200 aircraft on 13 November 1994 to London and Amsterdam.

In 1996, Austrian Airlines and Swissair became shareholders, investing US$9 million in new equity.

In 2000, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development became a shareholder by investing $5.4 million. In 2006, UIA adopted a new classification-system for freight operations which allowed the airline to carry a wider range of goods, ranging from live animals to fresh food and valuable objects. Additionally, an express service was introduced to meet the needs of customers wishing to make use of expedited cargo-delivery services.

Developments since 2013
Ukraine International Airlines' first Boeing 777-200ER delivered in February 2018
A former Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-300 which has been retired in 2019

In the first half of 2013, the airline's traffic rose by 60% to 2,200,000 passengers. According to the company's president Yuri Miroshnikov, the UIA planned to achieve the same 2013 yearly results (i.e. to reach yearly traffic of 4,400,000).[6] On 25 April 2014, UIA began non-stop flights from Kyiv to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.[7] Also in 2013, due to the demise of competitor Aerosvit, UIA launched new flights from Ukraine to Baku in Azerbaijan, Yerevan in Armenia, Larnaca in Cyprus, Munich in Germany, Warsaw in Poland, Vilnius in Lithuania, Prague in the Czech Republic, Athens in Greece, Batumi in Georgia, Moscow (Sheremetyevo Airport), Yekaterinburg, Saint Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Nizhnevartovsk, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, and Sochi in Russia, Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, and in 2014, New York City in the United States.[8]

In October 2015, UIA was banned by Russian government from flying to Russian destinations as a response to a ban by Ukrainian government of Russian airlines from flying into Ukraine.[9]

Since June 2016, most of UIA's international flights are sold with the basic "hand luggage-only tariff". If passengers are booking this tariff and want to check in luggage, fees up to US$60 per flight will be charged.[10] Also since summer 2016 UIA wetleases an ERJ 145 from Dniproavia (also of the group "Privat") for daily services to Chernivtsi (because the condition of the airport doesn't allow E-190 and B737-operations)[11]

On 14 June 2016, the offices of UIA were searched because of an investigation of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine concerning passenger fees not paid to the State Aviation Fund.[12]

In March 2018, Ukraine International announced a fleet modernization plan. While the first of three pre-owned Boeing 777-200ER had already been delivered, the airline expects several new Boeing 737 and Embraer 195 aircraft during the year to replace the last Boeing 737 Classics.[13]

Ukraine International ceased being a member[14] of the Flying Blue rewards programme as of 1 January 2019. Ukraine International Airlines informs about the delay of 22 flights, which has occurred in the evening of 29 January at Boryspil Airport. The delays were caused by the failure in refueling aircraft with aviation fuel.[15] UIA will continue to write losses with approximately 50m USD for 2019 and therefore implemented saving measures according to the new CEO.[16]

Corporate affairs

In February 2011, the Ukrainian government sold its 61.6% stake in UIA to three existing minority shareholders for UAH 287 million  (US$36.2 million). As of 26 July 2013, the airline was owned by Ukraine-based Capital Investment Project LLC (74%) and Cyprus-based Ontobet Promotions Limited (26%). Capital Investment Process, in turn, is owned by Ontobet.[17][18] The owners are represented by Aron Mayberg, a business partner of Igor Kolomoyskyi and the former CEO of the bankrupt AeroSvit Airlines, from which partially licences and planes were transferred to Ukraine International Airlines.[19]

As of 22 June 2016, the ownership structure is registered as the following: 74.1627% Capital Investment Project, Ukraine and 15.9108% Ontobet Promotions Ltd, Cyprus.[20]

This is the second year in a row that the company has made a loss, despite seeing growth in passengers. According to a February statement by company head Yuri Miroshnikov, UIA is struggling to stay profitable in the face of growing competition from budget airlines. In 2017, the company recorded a UAH 304 million loss.[21]

Ukraine International Airlines posted a net loss of almost UAH 2.7 billion (about $100 million) in 2018, or about nine times more than it lost in 2017, Ukrainian media reported on 25 March, citing a UIA investor report.

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), the country's national carrier, is to slow down its expansion plans in order to stabilise its financial performance and climb out of the red.[22]

Yuri Miroshnikov is stepping down as president of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) on 12 September after 15 years of managing Ukraine's national carrier and working for UIA since 1993. Evgeny Dykhne will take on the leadership role at UIA from 18 September 2019.[23][24]

The head of the state air traffic regulator of Ukraine stated at 8.11.2019 that UIA would owe them actually 1 billion UAH of unpaid fees and penalties.[25]

Destinations
Main article: List of Ukraine International Airlines destinations

UIA connects Ukraine to over 80 destinations in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as well as to New York City[4] and Toronto[5] from its base at Boryspil Airport, and also operates domestic flights. UIA serves over 1000 flights per week.[26] Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) was forced to make some involuntary changes to its summer 2019 flight schedules, with reduced frequencies and capacity on some selected routes.[27] Although not officially a budget airline, many of UIA's worldwide flights are popular with travellers because of its low fares, they use Boryspil International Airport as a transport hub.[28]

Due to ongoing losses, the airline suspended flights to Amman, Riga, Beijing and Minsk in November 2019.[29] From 2020, flights to Bangkok and Krakow were also suspended.[30]

Codeshare agreements

Ukraine International Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[31]

Fleet
UIA Boeing 737-800
UIA Boeing 777-200ER

As of January 2021, the Ukraine International Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[35]

Ukraine International Airlines fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
B E+ E Total
Boeing 737-800 19 — — — 186 186
Boeing 737-900ER 4 — — — 189 189
215 215
Boeing 767-300ER 2 — 12 38 211 261 To be retired.[36]
Boeing 777-200ER 3 — 21 16 324 361
Embraer 190 5 — 8 — 96 104
Embraer 195 2 — — — 116 116
Total 35 —

Accidents and incidents
  • On 8 January 2020, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport. The IRGC attributed it to human error. The aircraft involved, UR-PSR, was a three-year-old Boeing 737-800. There were 176 passengers and crew on board with no survivors.[37] The crash was the first fatal aviation incident for Ukraine International Airlines since beginning operations in 1992.[38]

See also

References
  1. "UIA Management Team - Ukraine International Airlines (UIA)". Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  2. "Ukraine International Airlines."
  3. "Contact Ukraine International Airlines." Ukraine International Airlines. Retrieved on 21 June 2010. "ADDRESS: UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES 201-203, Kharkivske Road, Kyiv, 02121, Ukraine"
  4. "Ukraine International Airlines launches direct Kyiv–New York flights". KyivPost. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  5. Liu, Jim (29 November 2017). "Ukraine International plans Toronto launch in June 2018". Routesonline. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  6. МАУ похвасталась ростом пассажиропотока и планами начать полеты в США. Korrespondent.net (in Ukrainian). UNIAN. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  7. "UIA opened ticket sales for Kiev – New York non-stop scheduled service". Ukraine International Airlines. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  8. "New Flights from Kiev to Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cyprus, Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Greece, Georgia, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan on flyUIA.com!". FlyUIA. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014.
  9. Kiev, Agence France-Presse in (25 October 2015). "Russia and Ukraine suspend direct flights between countries". the Guardian.
  10. "Official site of UIA – Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) (Ukraine)". FlyUIA. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  11. "Ukraine Int'l Airlines to wet-lease an ERJ-145 this summer". ch-aviation.
  12. "One airline fights to retain pre-eminence in Ukraine - Jun. 16, 2016". 16 June 2016.
  13. rusaviainsider.com - Ukraine International Airlines adjusts 2018 fleet expansion plans 22 March 2018
  14. "Flying Blue - Ukraine International". flyingblue.fr.
  15. "UIA information about the failure of fueling at Boryspil Airporton 29 January 2019 – Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) (Ukraine)". FlyUIA.
  16. "Президент авиакомпании МАУ Евгений Дыхне: "Я знаю работу компании, как партнер со стороны аэропорта, и знаю, как пассажир. Многие вопросы в компании решены не в пользу комфорта пассажира"". www.unian.net.
  17. "UIA now under control of Cyprus based Ontobet Promotions". ch-aviation. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  18. "List of shareholders of UIA (in Ukrainian)". Ukrainian state register of shareholders. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  19. "Aron Mayberg: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com.
  20. "АТ "МІЖНАРОДНІ АВІАЛІНІЇ УКРАЇНИ" - Smida". www.smida.gov.ua.
  21. "Ukraine International Airlines loses nearly $100 million | KyivPost - Ukraine's Global Voice". KyivPost. 26 March 2019.
  22. "Ukraine International places financial stability ahead of fleet expansion". 8 February 2019.
  23. "Loss-making Ukraine International Airlines appoints new president". www.aerotime.aero.
  24. "New president for Ukraine International Airlines". Russian Aviation Insider. 10 September 2019.
  25. "Голова Украероруху розповів про суму боргу авіакомпанії МАУ". Економічна правда.
  26. "Информация о МАУ - Ukraine International Airlines (UIA)". www.flyuia.com. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  27. "B737 MAX delays force UIA to amend its flight schedules". 5 April 2019.
  28. "Iran plane crash: Ukraine International Airline jet crashes killing 176". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  29. "UIA ceases flights to Amman, Minsk, Riga, suspends flights to Beijing due to losses | KyivPost - Ukraine's Global Voice". KyivPost. 25 October 2019.
  30. "UIA keeps axing flight program – Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) (International)". FlyUIA.
  31. "Profile on Ukraine International Airlines". CAPA. Centre for Aviation. Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  32. Liu, Jim (15 June 2019). "Ukraine International / Air Astana begins codeshare partnership from June 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  33. Liu, Jim (10 November 2017). "TAP Air Portugal / Ukraine International expands codeshare routes in W17". Routesonline. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  34. Liu, Jim (22 March 2018). "TAP Air Portugal expands Ukraine International codeshare in S18". Routesonline. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  35. flyuia.com - Fleet retrieved 6 January 2021
  36. "МАУ перестанет летать на Boeing 737 Classic в 2018 году - avianews.com". www.avianews.com.
  37. “Ukrainian Boeing plane crashes in Iran, 176 people dead”, ‘‘CNN’’, 8 January 2020
  38. "Iran plane crash: All 176 passengers killed as Ukraine Boeing 737 crashes near Tehran". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

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