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Founded | 1 October 1992 | ||||||
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Hubs | Boryspil International Airport | ||||||
Frequent-flyer program | Panorama Club | ||||||
Fleet size | 41 | ||||||
Destinations | 86 | ||||||
Parent company | Capital Investment Project LLC (74%) | ||||||
Headquarters | Kiev, Ukraine | ||||||
Key people | Yuri Miroshnikov, President | ||||||
Website | www.flyuia.com |
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), (Ukrainian: Приватне акціонерне товариство «Авіакомпанія Міжнародні Авіалінії України» (МАУ), Aviakompaniya Mizhnarodni Avialiniyi Ukrayiny, [ˌɑwijɑkɔmˈpɑɲijɑ miʒnɑˈrɔdɲi ˌɑwijɑˈʎiɲiji ukrɑˈjɪnɪ]) is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Ukraine, with its head office in Kiev with its main hub at Boryspil International Airport. It operates domestic and international passenger flights and cargo services to Europe, the Middle East, the United States and Asia.
The airline was established on 1 October 1992, and started operations on 25 November 1992 with a Kiev-London flight. It was one of the first "joint ventures with foreign capital" in Ukraine and the first airline in the former Soviet Union to use new Boeing 737-400 aircraft. The founding shareholders were the Ukrainian Association of Civil Aviation and Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA), an Irish aircraft-leasing company. In 1996, Austrian Airlines and Swissair became shareholders, investing US$9 million in new equity.
The airline began cargo operations with a Boeing 737-200 aircraft on 13 November 1994 to London and Amsterdam, and today operates a Boeing 737-300F as a dedicated aircraft for freight operations.
In 2000, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development became a shareholder by investing $5.4 million. In 2006 UIA adopted a new classification system for freight operations which allowed the airline to carry a wider range of goods, ranging from live animals to fresh food and valuable objects. Additionally, an express service was introduced to meet the needs of customers wishing to make use of expedited cargo delivery services.