Would you fly... Ukraine International Airlines?

[MEL_Traveller]

How do you plan to do that?

booking with airlines that have stated their intentions to avoid flying over conflict zones if there is any doubt as to their safety.

 

[shearsense]

booking with airlines that have stated their intentions to avoid flying over conflict zones if there is any doubt as to their safety.

.....which includes Ukrainian International Airlines..... So, taking a step back from previous speculation and introducing a dose of reality to the discussion, I had two transits through KBP last week, with two sectors on UIA. Both operating to slightly modified schedules to accommodate the longer flight paths and on-time relative to that schedule. Nice recently built international terminal, smooth transfer procedure. One flight with adequate service, the other with quite good service (better than I had on my last QF flight but not quite as good as the connecting OS flight on the same day). A few too many inebriated fellow PAX for my liking, but that is a longer term problem. I have had good and bad experiences on UIA, but would happily fly them again under the current circumstances if my employer asked me to. The only negative is that they are not part of any of the three global alliances and no useful status credits. And that is probably more traumatic (and relevant) for fellow AFF members than other issues.

 

[sergeyvzn]

I would avoid them due to the same reason I would avoid MH now - they are on the brink of bankrupcy (hence heavy discounted offers). If you buy your ticket now there is no guarantee they are still around in November

 

[Himeno]

Yes, I would.
If they were members of oneworld.

 

[Mattg]

A quick update:
I ended up booking with Aegean Airlines. It actually isn't possible to book a flight from Berlin to Istanbul on the Aegean website for some reason, so I had to book with an online travel agent, which was a bit of a PITA, but never mind.

I paid around 70% more, but the UIA price was very cheap to start with, so we're only talking under €100 in price difference.

 

[RooFlyer]

Five years on ...

I'll be in Kiev next year and am thinking about hopping on Ukraine International Airlines to go to Minsk and back. In spite of my post above, I'm not instantly repelled by the thought about using UIA.

Anyone used them recently and/or comments in general about using them? eg @shearsense ?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've read a few reviews about them. Nothing overly negative that I can see. Their business class on the 767 is old skool.

 

[Wanderlust_tim]

I flew them in 2014 and wouldn't hesitate to fly them again. They reminded me of Easyjet.