Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) intends to close flights to Amman, Minsk and Riga from November 16 for the 2019/2020 winter navigation period due to negative profitability.
The company said this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
“The new schedule is introduced from November 16, 2019, for the entire winter navigation season of IATA 2019/2020… In connection with the negative profitability, UIA will stop operating flights to Amman, Minsk and Riga,” the statement reads.
Also, flights on the Kyiv – Beijing route will be suspended, and the frequency of flights on the Kyiv – Bangkok route is reduced to 3 weekly flights.
All UIA’s regular scheduled flights to Western Europe will be operated during the daytime, departing from Kyiv in the interval 09:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. and arriving in Kyiv in the interval 05:30 p.m. – 06:30 p.m. local time.
At the same time, the frequency of flights between Kyiv and Brussels, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Krakow and Madrid will increase to daily, and flights to London and Vilnius will also be operated twice a day.
UIA regular flights to Cairo, Dubai, Ankara, Izmir, Yerevan, Baku and Tehran will be carried out at night with departure from Kyiv in the interval 08:00 p.m. – 09:00 p.m. and arriving in Kyiv in the interval 07:30 a.m. – 08:45 a.m. local time, while flights to Tel Aviv, Istanbul and Tbilisi will be operated several times a day.
On domestic routes, UIA intends to conduct flights from Kyiv to Odesa, Kharkiv and Lviv twice a day, and to Dnipro, Kherson, Chernivtsi, Zaporizhia and Ivano–Frankivsk – daily.
Besides, during the winter navigation, the number of UIA flights between Kyiv and Toronto will increase from 2 to 3 per week, and from November 16, departure from Kyiv to New York will be postponed to 11:30 a.m., arrival in Kyiv – to 04:20 p.m.
Flights to the USA and Canada will be operated on Boeing-777 aircraft.
It is planned that the number of weekly flights between Kyiv and Delhi will increase to 5 in the 2019/2020 winter season, and then to 7 in the 2020 summer season, where Boeing-767 aircraft will be operated.
It is noted that in this way UIA optimizes the hub system at the Boryspil International Airport, taking into account fluctuations in demand, transit flows, forecasts of the development of the Ukrainian economy and the situation with the need to fly around the territory of the Russian Federation.
According to the statement, the reduction of the flight program is due to the need to optimize airline costs and return it to the breakeven zone.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, UIA is counting on making a profit in 2020.
In 2018, UIA increased loss 8.9 times to UAH 2.696 billion year over year.
The value of the company’s assets at the end of 2018 amounted to UAH 4.645 billion, long-term liabilities – UAH 433.49 million, current liabilities – UAH 9.452 billion.
The airline operates more than 1,100 scheduled flights per week and connects Ukraine with more than 50 cities and key points in Europe, Asia, America, Africa, the Middle East and the CIS countries.
One of the ultimate beneficiaries of the company is the former co-owner of PrivatBank, businessman Ihor Kolomoiskyi.
© 2019 UNA
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Let me get this straight. Kolomoisky owns a bank, the media, the national airliner… and the president…
I fly UIA regularly. However, I’ve seen this airline reduce its services continuously over the years, even for Panorama Club members like me. If more airlines were to fly to and from Ukraine, I would seek another carrier to use, with better services. Maybe, UIA officials should think about their cost-cutting measures more before implementing them. This would keep more passengers loyal and help to increase their numbers.
I like Wizz Air and UIA. What i don’t like is the instability of destinations. You can’t start flights to e.g. Billund and Copenhagen, and later reduce flights or even cancel them. Instead more advertising in the places with decreasing passengers would be an option, like offers including flight, transport, hotel etc. I rarely see travel packages and special offers on the discount pinboards.
KLM are a far better company than UIA, and provide a better service. They fly to Kyiv on a daily basis and have a lot more destinations.
From Oslo to Dnipro I always use Austrian, good service and good food
Does Norwegian not offer flights to Ukraine? I remember they had an excellent service, although very old stewardesses. 😂
They had flights to Kyiv but couldn’t fill the planes. I guess it was too early, it was before it was visa free. Alina will go with Norwegian to JFK on the 5th of November 😊
What is your impression of very old stewardesses? Probably qualify as young hotties for an old fart like me.
Most of them are between 25 and 35, too young for an old man like me 🙂
Sounds about right, but mike thinks they are old.
Anything above 24 is old. 😇
Look in the mirror 😂
With pleasure. 😎
64 is getting there. 5 weeks I will be 67, so old fart.