OREANDA-NEWS  On 19 November was announced, that Ukraine International Airlines increase their fleet of Boeing airliners to seventeen with the delivery of another 737-400 as part of their fleet renovation and expansion plans The hand over took place at Borispol international airport on Monday the 3rd of November after the aircraft had completed both the manufacturer’s safety checks and Ukrainian registration.  The new aircraft will be operated on the five years lease from the Irish ‘Aer Cap’ which is one of UIA’s shareholders and will fly under the registration code GAX.

The aircraft has been leased by UIA specifically for the rapidly expanding Ukrainian charter market and has entered the fleet to meet the growing need for additional flights to popular charter destinations particularly during the winter holiday period of 2008/2009.  

Unlike the rest of the UIA fleet that are multi-class this aircraft is in an all tourist class configuration of 168 seats and is designed as a medium range aircraft using the highly efficient French built CFM 56 low noise and low emission engines.  

On 6 November, the new aircraft made its inaugural flight to Dubai. Starting from 7 November it will be used for charter flights from Lvov to Egypt (Sharm-el-Sheikh, Hurghada).

UIA Vice-President Technical Alexander Saustenko said;  “UIA’s programme of fleet development is based on our projected business growth and the necessity to continuously improve the efficiency of our operation. To keep up with the market growth, we are doubling the size of our fleet over the next six years. Next year, for example, UIA will be the first airline in Ukraine to use the new Boeing 737-800 airliner providing us with much needed extra capacity on the network of routes.”

As with all aircraft operated by UIA the new Boeing 737-400 will conform to the high standards of operational safety and service. UIA is one of the only airlines in Eastern Europe to have its own Boeing approved aircraft maintenance base. This base not only keeps UIA aircraft in top technical condition but also provide services to other airlines.