UKRAINE INT'L AIRLINES   Passenger Reviews and Passenger Trip Reports

UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES review : 20 December 2009  by D Shvechykhin

Customer Rating : 2/5

Kiev-Abu Dhabi return. 5.5 hours flight - no entertainment at all. Flight magazine - very low information and poor content. Food was really bad from Kiev and Ok from Abu Dhabi. Very limited number of drinks. Abu Dhabi to Kiev my seat was broken so it took time to find another one. Plane is really old and creaking. Staff seems to be Ok, toilets bad smelling.

UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES review : 16 November 2008 : by A Mitchell

Customer Rating : 3/5

Recently flew Gatwick to Kiev return in business. Bets thing about business was that cabin was quiet and seats had reasonably generous leg room. Drink first offered about 45 minutes after take off in both directions (I got the impression that the crew were under orders not to serve too many drinks as part of a cost-cutting exercise). Food okay. No IFE on either of these flights. Check in at Kiev was hopeless. Despite there being no one in front of me when I arrived at the business class desk to check in, the agent was disinterested and reading her magazine and directed me to a free economy desk adjacent. Beware of Kiev- you can't check in (and proceed to lounge) until 2 hours before your flight is ready to depart. Very limited choice of places to eat and drink at airport airside. I paid £7.50 for a pint of beer in airport cafe and at lunch, a main course was about £20 £25. Lounge spacious but extremely limited range of drinks- no whisky, only American bourbon. It is the only lounge that I have been in where we were entertained by a live pianist!

UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES review : 28 October 2008 : by Yevheniy Kahanovych

Customer Rating : 2/5

Kiev-Berlin-Kiev two weeks ago. On-line booking worked fine and was easy. On-line check in doesn't exist. Check in at Borispol was ok. On board experience was not good at all. Planes were old. Entertainment options outdated. Overhead monitors worked, but no earphones given. They use planes leased after many airlines, so there is no standard of seat pitch and design across their fleet. Seating was cramped. Toilets were smelly. Service from the crew was ok. Crews' English very limited. Food was really bad. Piece of bread, piece of sausage and a chocolate cake. Would work for 30 min hop, not for 2 hour flight. Both flights were late about 1 hour. Check in at in Berlin Tegel was disorganized. Paid USD500 for my ticket, so was not happy at all. This was my first time traveling with them internationally, but probably the last one. Not a value for money.

UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES review : 2 August 2008 : by Dave Stanley

Customer Rating : 3/5

London to Kiev, Simferopol, London. Overall, a pretty good experience. Flights were on time. The aircraft were in good condition, with a decent amount of leg room. Food was OK on the way out, but rather limited on the way back. I would have given 4 stars if they had not left the fasten seatbelt sign on for most of the outward flight for no good reason - the FA's enforced the regulation very strictly.

UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES review : 26 July 2008 : by Jean-Louis Vergaert

Customer Rating : 3/5

Brussels-Kiev-Brussels Business Class: no delay, seats OK, friendly FA's. Better pass on the food and get a gin and tonic, as local champagne is warm (FA explained the bottle is too large to get in the fridge), and wines are of canteen level. Management is clearly not interested in offering a little extra to business class passengers, but you will sit in a lonely peace.

UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES review : 19 June 2008 : by J Rebel

Customer Rating : 3/5

SPL-KBP vv, operated in code share with KLM, done it some 20+ times and in terms of on-time performance and luggage arrival, UIA is notably better than KLM. It also has a tastier breakfast but on afternoon flights the food is meat product in grey sauce and best to be avoided. Instead ask for a refill of whatever you are drinking. Polite FA's.

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by Evan Horbay

5 May 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Kiev-Vienna. Check in was slow, but after that, all good. Plane was new looking, clean. Crew were cheery, good English skills. Food average. Seats were comfortable, pilot constantly gave us updates on arrival time, and it was an overall nice experience.

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by Gary Kendall

3 August 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

VIE-ODS Business class. B737-500 either leased or bought from an Iberian line judging by the language of the various notices. Consequently, seating was the usual 3x3. No different to BA or LH business class around Europe. As there were only 3 of us in business class, staff attention was good. Food was good considering that it was only a 2-hour flight.

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by Mark Agranovski

31 May 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

LGW-KBP-LGW in economy in May 2007. Plane was a very dated 737-300 with the smallest seat pitch I've seen so far. Crew very polite, passengers rather chaotic - mobile phones ringing during take-off etc. Will have to take BA next time on this route

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by Yevheniy Kahanovych

21 January 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

Two domestic flights between Kiev and Lviv last week - I had no trouble at all. Manual check-in swift. Planes old 737, but clean and well kept. Both flights on time. Crews polite. Breakfast served on both flights was edible (sandwich out of Kiev and 3 chocolate bars out of Lviv). Nothing impressive, but given the price paid (USD45 return) it is a superb value for money. Their schedule is very convenient. Their website looks shabby, but is very simple to book tickets and works fast. I will not hesitate to recommend them and will use them again.

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by Helen Lee

15 December 2006

I had a good flight from London to Kiev with Ukraine International Airlines in Nov/Dec 2006. Checking in was very fast, much quicker than my experiences with BA and the times of the flights both to Kiev and returning which better than other direct flights. Had to hang around a bit on the transfer bus at Kiev airport which was a bit of a pain and I couldn't hear the announcements on the aircraft but apart from that I was very happy with the flight.

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by Andriy Yesypenko

20 May 2006

Kiev - London (Gatwick) in business class (in April). Having flown with UIA so many times, I was expecting that in line with other European carriers my own one will make some upgrades and improvements to their (at least) business class service. Well, I should have thought twice! Not that their service is bad. it's just very plain and basic. I do not know for how long do they think their old (sometimes) broken seats will pass as business class seats and for how long they'll put up with the Boryspil catering company's offer for premium food (do they try it themselves?). Flight attendants try to do their best to please the customers but with not much to offer it is really hard to do anything. I believe getting nicer wines and other spirits (at least different from those offered in coach) would not hurt and certainly would not send the company bankrupt when they charge so much for their business class service. What's even more upsetting is that their customer relations is non-existent and that no suggestions are ever taken into account. They just are not interested in what you think about them, and if you tell them that you'll fly with other carriers they just tell you to do so... To sum up I would like to express a pity that UIA is sliding more and more into less than average carrier with no intention to purchase new aircraft or improve service! They try to preserve the level of service they started with, but what they don't understand is that to attract customers airlines should constantly develop their product.

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by Volodya Bilotkach

30 April 2006

Several flights - KBP to AMS (3 times, one way), LGW (r/t), ZRH (twice, one-way), TXL-KBP. Mixed experience. Have been yelled at once (tried to correct the agent's pronunciation of Phoenix, which was my final destination on that day) - the other time they misplaced my onward ZRH- LAX tickets (I was with wife and two kids then). The agent thought she gave them to someone else by mistake, and ran looking for them, even though I tried explaining to her that she must have placed them somewhere on her desk (so it was, in fact). The guys tried to make it up by giving us passes to the KBP business class lounge, but we simply did not have time to go there - had to run straight to the gate after that delay. Otherwise, average service, have some newer planes now, even started smiling.

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by Kasper Hettinga

10 February 2006

KBP-AMS with UIA. Although it was a relatively short flight, a good meal with drinks was served. Staff were friendly. Seating was OK. Looking at the price of the ticket, I think it is well worth the money spend.

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by John Tanner

1 May 2005

Vienna to Odessa on March 23rd 2005 and returned on April 1st. The check in was a bit hectic at both ends. But once on the plane everything was smooth. Food was ok. I had requested vegan meal (it is always safe, if not tasty) on trip there they had no idea, but return meal was excellent vegan meal. Would not hestitate to fly them again.

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by Andriy Yesypenko

9 July 2004

Kyiv (KBP) to London (LGW) in business class. The service was great! Beginning with the business lounge back in Kyiv, the flight was amazing. Although the business class cabin was almost full, we did not feel cramped or anything because the seating was 2+2. Welcomed by champagne, we were offered a menu to chose lunch from three different options! Drinks were served throughout the flight and the flight attendants were doing their best to please any of the passengers' requests.

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by Keith Baker

13 May 2004

I recently flew from Heathrow to Odessa via Vienna. I flew economy class. The first leg was Austrian Airlines, then UIA into Odessa. I found the flight very comfortable, the cabin staff were very helpful and smiled a lot. They genuinely did want you to be pleased with their efforts. The food and leg room in economy was very acceptable too. Austrian Airlines were very good too, but I feel that UIA had the edge! On my return from Odessa to Vienna. It was the same again. The flights with UIA in both directions were very much on time, alas Austrian were late on both counts, but that was due to air traffic control.

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by Jonathan Cohen

15 February 2004

Ukraine International Airlines from London Gatwick to Kyiv-Jan 2004. I have only just begun travelling to the Ukraine on business and have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised, although judging by the comments of others I should not have been, by the excellent service offered by UIA on this 3 hour flight. In business class the Boeing 737-300 was configure 2-3 as with most European carriers with my front row bulkhead seat offering more than adequate legroom. Upon boarding my jacket was swiftly taken and a pre-takeoff drink and newspaper offered. Soon after takeoff we were offered drinks before the meal service. I had pre ordered a Kosher meal which the Purser informed me was on board for me before we took off. The meal was excellent and quite substantial. Full marks to UIA for getting this right. Other airlines with whom I have Gold Card status regularly do not have my requested meal on board. There was a further round of drinks offered and the crew made a point of telling us we only had to ask if we wanted anything else. Crew were friendly, professional and above all gave you the feeling that they were delighted you had chosen to fly with them. The return flight was just as good and I would recommend UIA to anyone who is travelling to Kyiv from London.

Ukraine Intl Airlines - by Eric Molicki

30 August 2003

Ukraine International Airlines from Kiev to Frankfurt in business class- August, 2003. Overall, this was a good flight, with good service, at a good price. Upon arriving at KBP, I was able to bypass the massive lines in front of UIA's counter by asking if they had a dedicated business class check in. The agent promptly finished with the economy class passenger she was checking in and took me next- apologizing that they were checking in a large group and that this was normally reserved exclusively for Business class passengers. This gave me time to make it upstairs to their lounge before departure. It was clean, quiet, and well stocked with drinks of all kinds, snack foods, etc. The flight itself was also good. UIA flies Boeing equipment and I found their 737-400 to be more comfortably configured in business class than LU's airbus. UIA gives a seat pitch of 34'' in Business compared to LU's 31'' on this route. The cabin staff was friendly and provided me with all the normal amenities - coat check, pre-flight drinks, hot towels, etc. I skipped the full breakfast they were serving and opted for some sleep. 2 hours later when I awoke and went forward to wash, the cabin crew even asked if I'd like for them to heat up my meal for me- even though they'd stopped serving over an hour ago and had cleaned everything up! Now that's rare to find such willingness to accommodate a passenger's schedule in this day and age- high marks for that one! - Overall, I'd have to give UIA a 7.5 out of 10. They are significantly better than LU, but I still miss my more comfortable American style business class seats with more room, etc. But I would definitely fly them again- even prefer them over Lufthansa.