Ukraine International

Berlin-Kiev-Berlin. Sadly Ukraine International has reduced its once very good onboard service. They use to serve a full meal on this 2.5 hours flight. No longer now it is just a small sandwich. The rest is as usual - no newspapers no onboard entertainment. Their fares are not the cheapest.

LGW-KBP-LGW. I picked UIA because it was the cheapest. The check-in staff didn't smile but were pleasant and efficient. Cabin crew smiling and friendly up and down the cabin seeing to passengers and serving drinks/food. The food was actually hot and tasty. Plane in good condition and clean. My luggage got there OK both times.

Odesa to Vienna. The plane was a bit older 737 but still performed well. Flight staff friendly and helpful. I wasn't expecting them to serve anything since it was a short flight only an hour but they served drinks and a tasty pastry type sandwich. All in all it was a good flight and a good experience.

Heraklion to Kiev was 10 hrs delayed. During the whole waiting period the airline contacted the passengers once to inform them there was a technical problem with the plane. We received no further information. While in the airport we were offered one meal after which the airline representative disappeared. No airport announcements regarding our situation except for one at 10 pm informing passengers they had to go back through passport control and into the departure zone before midnight. The crew showed up at 3.10 am without any explanations regarding the delay and boarding started. Upon arrival in Kiev we immediately contacted the airline representative to file a complaint but she stated that we were not entitled to any kind of compensation.

LGW-KBP. Check-in staff friendly and efficient. Boarding slightly delayed so was departure. Cabin crew polite. Flew B737-500 which showed its age however it was very clean. Hot meal served onboard for 3 hr flight which was tasty and filling. Load 100% but didn't feel very cramped. Disembarking via stairs but I there are no air bridges in Borispol. Waiting for luggage was a pain at such a small airport (30 mins). Overall good experience but they could invest in new fleet.

AMS-KBP. Uneventful flight on a somewhat older 737-Classic (UR-GAT). Check-in in AMS was good and despite the fact the flight was at the start of the holiday season we had to wait only a short while to check-in our luggage. The plane was equipped with leather seats which appeared to be old with an average seat pitch. The toilets at the rear of the plane had a terrible smell but were not dirty. The food did not taste very nice drinks were OK. Communication from the flight crew was limited. Mostly in Ukrainian and some info in English but hard to understand. Luggage arrived in KBP without problems. UIA now uses the new F-terminal which is a big improvement over the old very busy intl. terminal.

HEL-KBP-SIP-KBP-HEL. Amazing service! Nowadays one gets the best services from Eastern European Airlines. Cabin Crew were really polite and smiling all the time. Announcements made in Ukrainian Russian and really good English. Hot meal and full drinks on all flights. Cabin Crew was literally all the time in the cabin serving passengers. They had 3 drink services on Helsinki-Kiev-Helsinki flights flight time only 2 hrs. Outbound had problems in Borispol Airport due to power cut and massive chaos. I arrived to domestic terminal 10 mins before departure had a problem with e-ticket. Ticket Office solved problem in 1 min and was back at check-in 5 mins before departure. I made the flight and also did my luggage.

KBP-LWO. Flight was operated by Air Baltic with one cabin crew member from that airline and one from UIA. Plane was clean comfortable and really quite nice. Crew were both friendly polite and the service was quick. Full sandwich tea coffee all offered on the hour-long leg. Departure and arrival both on time. The FA even had good English skills which is rare on domestic Ukrainian turboprop flights! Overall it was an excellent trip and a pleasant alternative to the 8 hr train.

Recent flights KUF-LGW via KBP return in Y. All flights took off and landed precisely on time baggage arrived all right as well. They only serve some scant sandwiches or breakfast items but given the attractive price I was really happy to use UIA. Very friendly and smiling cabin crew too. Will certainly recommend using this airline for short to medium haul flights.

Tel Aviv to Kiev B737-800. Plane clean departure delayed 1 hour with no indication as to the reason. Inflight service excellent for 2.5 hour flight and food reasonably good. Business class was European style with the middle seat empty.