Ukraine International

Preferably never again. I flew Kiev-Amsterdan in August. Both ways got upgraded to Business, which sounds nice. However: Ground-Staff Kiev Borispol Airport: Very poor in English, grumpy and not friendly at all. Boarding airplane is terrible. Put into an extremely hot bus, no air conditioning whatsoever, waiting for 20 min. Long drive (again no air-conditioning) to the airplane. It was a very old 737-500, with signs in Portuguese and Russian. Seats are very uncomfortable, seat pitch reasonable (however, it was business.) Only 3 English newspapers available, so after row 2 they were gone. Crew/Pilot announcements completely not understandable. Again poor English proficiency. Warm beer and wine on board. Food below expectations. Luckily a tablet can do the trick to work a bit and make one forget about the terrible environment one is in.

Never flying them again and discourage anyone thinking about it. My family and I had a round trip from Cleveland Ohio, USA to Lviv Ukraine in which we made stops in New York and Kiev. Our luggage was supposed to fly transit and we were supposed to retrieve them at final destination. We did not receive two of our luggages, and have been waiting for two weeks for any information. This airline managed to lose 2 bags in one round trip. When contacting this airlines employees for help with this problem, no one wanted to help and refused to call out a representative in which I could speak to in person. All I was given was a phone number to customer support in which I have been calling for a week and only once have they picked up the phone and hung up during that call. The Boeing in which we were flying from New York to Kiev was the worst I have ever seen in my 20 years of traveling. As we boarded the plane, no air condition for the whole hour. No built in tv monitors for the 11 hour flight. The arm rests could not even be put up because they would constantly fall. No wifi. No leg room and uncomfortable seats. Passengers did not have their personal switches of the light and air conditioning nozels. Our carry on bag which fit on a small plane from Cleveland Ohio to New York did not fit into the Boeing. We were ordered to turn in our carry on bag where passengers turn in strollers and told us that we would reccieve in right after we land. Our carry on bag was not there. When asking the crew members and airline employees where the bag is everyone's answer was I dont know I can't help you, wait till your final destination. When I purchased tickets, my agent requested a baby bassinet but onboard the plane, the flight attendents refused to make any accommodations for me. To make matters worse, the family of 7 all had scattered seats. My daughter were not sitting next to me and I had no help with the baby. When I asked why our seats were not together they told me that I should have clarified that we were a family. I did not know that handing 7 passports together with all the same last name did not indicate that we were a family. Lastly, the flight attendant did not want to help me out at all but told me that it was my job to ask passengers to switch seats. When landing in Kiev with the missing carry on, we were informed that our connecting flight with the same airline had been delayed till 11. Shortly after we were given a hotel, we were told that it was delayed till 1 am and then 1:45 am. No explanation was given as to why. We quickly noticed that there were supposed to be 3 fights that day from Kiev to Lviv in which the airline canceled them all and mashed all passengers into one plane flight to save money.

Flight from JFK to Kiev was cancelled on July 19th 2015 without notice. I learned that the flight was cancelled at the airport and went back on July 20th with all my luggage. The flight got delayed again until 12 am. No aircon on the plane prior to take off. Arrived to Kiev knowing that I missed the connection flight to Tel Aviv, my final destination. Transfer desk staff did not know if my bags were dropped off at the airport in Kiev or not. I was finally told to check into Kiev to collect my bags and a bus will drop me at a hotel to spend the night and fly the next day. July 21, I left the hotel and went back to Kiev airport and got on a plane to Tel Aviv. Not a pleasant experience. I lost 2 days of my stay in Israel as a result.

Oneway KBP-ODS for 1650 UAH/70 USD economy. Check in via online worked properly, security at KBP chaotic at domestic gates. Long bus ride to the aircraft without working A/C and probably 50 degrees. Boarding endless, delayed 15 mins. Seats more or less normal, possible to sit for people with approx 1,85. Service - free cup of water or paid like low cost. Plane clean and new. Behavior of crew neutral (nothing special), however, arrival at ODS complete chaos. 170 passengers squeezed into a small exit waiting for their luggage. Cramped airport - back to Kyiv by train for 600UAH 1st-class - much more pleasant.

Clean and comfortable cabin. We were offered an option of upgrading to business class on board, and the cost was very competitive, so we agreed. The service was first-class, and so was the food. Even in coach class, the seats were much more comfortable than on our flight from Riga to Kiev operated by Air Baltic. Overall, an unexpected and pleasant surprise. We will fly with UIA again.

The staff lacked knowledge of the English language and basic knowledge of ethics. Being on a transit flight first, I had to move quickly to get out to my respective gate but the staff would not regulate the traffic of passengers leaving the plane, thus, making me be late and managing to board for the last minute. At my final destination, my buggage was lost and no one could answer me properly what the reason was. You had to buy food on the plane if you needed something and nothing was included in the price of the ticket. Flying for more than 4 hours for both flights, having nothing to eat, being treated awfully, losing the luggage made this the worst experience I have had.

The flight took off 30 minutes late, and arrived in Prague 35 minutes late. No accommodation was made by the cabin crew or gate staff for passengers with connecting flights. Cabin service was mediocre, and the cabin was rather uncomfortable. The plane appeared rather poorly maintained, as the intercom emitted a squeal of feedback every time the crew used it.

Online-check in worked properly (despite the fact that due to change of plane pre-ordered seats with more legspace were cancelled). Situation at gate in Kiev completely chaotic. Squeezed bus transfer to plane. Start with delay of approx.15 mins, because crew was held by angry passengers at border control. Stewards were not in a well mood. Flight pleasant, no catering beside cup of water. New looking 737-8 with pleasant legspace - no problem for a 1,90m-person. Anyway this was my last flight with them because they became in general by price/value worse than Wizzair.

I used to fly with UIA a couple years before and it was not that bad. The only complimentary food available for economy class passengers is water, and everything else has to be purchased and paid for onboard flights. People ended up pulling their own stuff out of their bags to have a bite. I will pay whatever it takes to stay with LOT, BA or Lufthansa to escape Ukrainian International Airlines.

I frequently and gladly fly "budget" airlines both domestically and internationally - I know what I can expect and what not to so by no means was I under the illusion that I was going to get a luxury experience. I flew from Athens (5.30am) to Kiev (laid over 2 hours) then on to JFK (arriving 2pm same day) for a total of 13 hours of time in the air. Flight Athens to Kiev was fine, flight attendants were nice and courteous. I slept most of the time and they did a brief juice/coffee service just before landing. Once in Kiev, be prepared for perhaps the rudest airport experience. Airport staff (from food service to duty-free to security staff) were miserable. Kiev airport has limited food options, so be prepared to settle on a mediocre sandwich. Flight from Kiev to JFK was hands down the worst flight I have been on. The seats are horrible. I am 5'10 and my knees rubbed the seat in front of me, the seats are narrow and are as big as you would expect from a tiny regional aircraft or island-hopper, not what you would expect for a long-haul flight. The seats themselves are extremely uncomfortable and are terrible in causing lower back pain, and recline only an inch or two. The cabin crew took the cold, aloof, and rudeness of the Kiev airport staff to an entirely new level and were openly hostile towards passengers. The food was laughably bad, but the worst part is that they offered maybe 500ml of beverage for the entire 10 hour flight. They did 3 separate drink services and each time you get about 150ml of beverage in a tiny solo cup, the size many people keep in their bathrooms. I've never been happier to land and be done with a flight, and would not wish flying UIA for long-haul flights on my worse enemy. I would describe the in-flight experience as a 1/10 and the only reason I am giving 5 stars is because the entire flight from Athens to JFK cost me $330 which is insanely cheap and was approximately half the price of the next cheapest flight from another airline. So if you're trying to backpack/budget fly and need a really inexpensive flight into/out of Europe or Asia, take UIA but seriously prepare yourself for a horrible flight and I'd recommend bringing a liter of your own water.