AIR UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL (MIZHNARODNI AVIOLINII UKRAINE): Prospekt Pobedi 14, Kiev, 252135, Ukraine; Phone 380 (044) 216-7109; Fax 380 (044) 216-8235; Code PS; Year Founded 1992. A subsidiary of Air Ukraine, Air Ukraine International is formed at Kiev in October 1992. The Ukrainian government owns 88% of the airline, founded to offer charter services to Western Europe. The remaining 12% is controlled by the lessor Guinness Peat Aviation. Valery Nazerenko is named president with Guinness Peat Aviation official Richard Creigh as his deputy.
A workforce of 400 is recruited as the carrier acquires two Boeing 737-4Y0s under charter from the Guinness Peat Aviation group in November; these are the first Boeing aircraft delivered to any of the CIS republics. The title Air Ukraine International is painted above the windowlines with Mizhnarodni Aviolinii Ukraine below.
Flights, designed to lure Western business passengers to the new nation aboard modern equipment, are inaugurated at the end of November to Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Milan, Munich, Paris, Vienna, Manchester, and London (LGW).
An interline agreement is signed with Aer Lingus Irish Airlines in March 1993. Under its terms, the two airlines are able to sell tickets on each other’s flights. Later in the year, additional pacts are signed covering computerized reservations systems sales and sales representation in general.
Operations continue apace in 1994 and the fleet is increased by the addition of one each B-737-2T4A and B-737-247A. When the parent organization begins to release its traffic figures, those for this subsidiary are initially included with them. Enplanements for the nation’s second largest airline total 146,551 in 1995.
The workforce stands at 470 in 1996. In July, the government divests its majority stake, allowing the airline to pursue external investment. When financial arrangements are completed in November, shareholding is divided between the Ukrainian State Property Fund (68.4%), Austrian Airlines, A. G. (14.3%), Guiness Peat Aviation Group, Ltd. (13.2%), and Swissair, A. G. (4.1%).
The company’s four aircraft transport a total of 178,720 passengers, a large 18% increase. In addition, 2.75 million FTKs are operated.
Flights continue in 1997 with newly initiated services to Bangkok, Beijing, Delhi, Lvov, and Prague emphasized. Passenger boardings decline 5.9% to 168,218 while cargo traffic is off 11.8% to 2.4 million FTKs.
It is understood that flights continue without change during the remainder of the decade; exact information is, however, unavailable.
World History
