Ukraine International Airlines to resume transatlantic flights in 2022

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) is set to resume direct flights to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Toronto Pearson Airport in the summer of 2022, according to information available on the UIA booking system.

It is currently impossible to take a direct flight from Ukraine to the U.S. or Canada.

UIA first began to halt direct flights to the U.S. and Canada in March 2020 due to anti-epidemic measures and economic pressures created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, UIA’s long-range aircraft have remained grounded at its base at Kyiv Boryspil International Airport.

According to information from flight tracking site Flight Aware, the last scheduled non-stop flight from Kyiv to New York was canceled on May 23, 2020. The last flight to Toronto departed on Aug. 29, 2020.

UIA had originally planned to relaunch flights to New York in December 2020, including a refueling stop-over in Iceland. However, this never materialized.

Tickets have now gone on sale for direct flights to New York from June 2. Tickets to Toronto are available to purchase for flights from June 1. Economy tickets cost $368 and $409 respectively.

UIA possesses two long-range aircraft, one Boeing 767-300ER and one Boeing 777-200ER.

Transatlantic flights have been notoriously difficult to maintain during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many major airlines are only now resuming long-haul tourist flights across the Atlantic, many of which with reduced frequency. Reuters reported on Dec. 9 that aviation giant American Airlines would be slashing the frequency of its transatlantic flights next summer.

In 2020, UIA recorded a net loss of nearly $170 million as a result of economic pressures caused by the global pandemic. This year has seen an uptake in business for UIA. In the first nine months of 2021, the company recorded a net profit of $40 million, pulling it out of the red.