Flight routing
- 1
- 2
- 3KBP-TLV
- 4TLV-LCA
- 5LCA-TLV
- 6TLV-KBP
- 7KBP-JFK
- 8LGA-YYZ
Welcome back to part 3 of my winter travel series. The previous report covered UIA's route from NYC to Kiev. Recently acquired, the Boeing 777s allowed UIA to expand their network, becoming a new competitor on the transatlantic routes. These aircraft were fulling refurbished with UIA’s branding, after being delivered from Asiana Airlines.
Due to cost cutting measures, they changed all long haul departure times to around midnight from both New York and Toronto. As a result, my entire booking had to be redone, an ordeal I intend to never experience again. Only having booked this flight 3 weeks before, UIA offered the most convenient connecting times into my destination of choice.
UIA operates all of their international connections from Terminal 3 at Kiev.This allows for an easy transit for international passengers. Below is the aircraft which I had flown on a couple hours before from JFK.
As I was unable to get a window seat, this report would be rather short as there wasn't much to do in the aircraft other than sleep.
UIA E195
Boryspil's T3 was well lit and was full of the Christmas Spirit. The terminal was bustling as both UIA's YYZ and JFK flights had recently arrived and transiting passengers were either finding their gates or doing duty free shopping.
The airport has a relatively good yet limited selection of places to eat. I had a quick bite before headed to my gate.
Christmas Eve departures out of KBP.
Aircraft: Boeing 737-9KVER
Registration: UR-PSJ
Age: 6.5 years
Layout: Y189
As one 737 de-boards, the other is preparing for departure. The 739 on the right was our aircraft to TLV that night.
Unfortunately, I was unable to get a window seat and gate agents said they won't change it. So, I just settled in and made good with what I had.
UIA's short haul product isn't like their long haul. It must be noted that there are no complimentary meals or any entertainment. There is a beverage service, however.
As the flight was in pitch darkness, not much could be seen. I dozed off and woke up during our descent. We arrived in TLV on time, along with all the other European flights. I headed to down to customs for a two hour wait.
Below is our route from Ukraine to Israel, sourced from Flightradar24.
Again pleasantly surprised with UIA. Nice fresh Boeing Sky Interior cabin with mood lighting. Though it seems operationally that UIA may have some issues with the significant sched changes and inflexibility.
Sucks you couldn't get a window seat, but I guess on the bright side you didn't get a middle!
I see that they have BOB food on the short-haul flights, but were all the drinks BOB? Did they serve anything for free, like water?
Thanks for sharing!
The schedule change caught most passenger off guard, as a result the original aircraft on some routes got updated to larger varients- in this case a B738 to a B739. With respect to drink service, I'm assuming they offered water and such but I was asleep for most of the flight. Thanks for reading!
Can You explain please, why TLV airport got such a low score in the Efficiency criteria?
Customs and Immigration processing times were extremely long; 1 to 2 hours. Tourists are often warned to prepare for lengthy waits when arriving in TLV.