First of four B777s delivered to Ukraine International Airlines

KIEV: February 20, 2018. Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) has taken delivery of its first B777-200 aircraft from lessor AerCap to replace B767-300s on services to Israel and routes to China, the U.S. and Thailand.

According to UIA director Cargo & Mail Peter Kukharchuk, the airline will add three more B777s to its fleet by the third quarter this year.

Kukharchuk said the 39 percent increase in cargo capacity from the four aircraft would support new passenger services to India, Egypt and Canada. Last year the airline carried over 11,000 tonnes of perishables - including flowers and food - pharma products, live animals, spare parts, and textiles.

UIA B777 2 "Looking back at 25 years of Ukraine International Airlines, I am particularly proud of our extraordinary quality standards and proven flexibility in adapting to new market requirements. The ardent commitment of our young teams and dedicated partners helped to shape the commercial and operational DNA of our enterprise," he commented.

"However, our ongoing success is also partly due to our longstanding partnership with ECS Group, one of the largest integrated GSSAs worldwide. With its competent and dynamic workforce and its large network of offices and subsidiaries in more than 47 countries, ECS Group has significantly contributed to the healthy growth of our international business."

Established in October 1992, UIA now operates 1,100 flights a week connecting domestic points with destinations in 38 countries.

Kukharchuk said the airline's goals in the next few years include synchronization of business processes with its supplier network and new e-commerce concepts "to provide customer-friendly access" to its range of logistics products.

"I am looking forward to further strengthen the reputation of UIA as one of the world's leading providers of premium air transportation services," he continued.

UIA Communications director Evgeniya Satska added: "The arrival of [the] Boeing 777 redefines the UIA service. We expect [it] will be highly appealing to both travelers from Ukraine and transit passengers. The latter empowers us to keep boosting transit traffic at Kiev Boryspil International Airport and developing our country's transit potential."