In July 2020, Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) terminated the lease agreement for three Boeing 737 МАХ passenger airliners manufactured in March-May 2019.
UIA told the Interfax Ukraine news agency that it made the decision to terminate the lease agreement because of the long delay in delivering the aircraft and the lack of clear information about when commercial flights on the 737 MAX aircraft can resume, the CFTS portal reports.
In total, UIA currently has a fleet of 34 airliners: five Embraer 190, two Embraer 195, eighteen Boeing 737-800s (four of them are in storage in Ostrava, the Czech Republic), four Boeing 737-900ER, two Boeing 767-300ER, three Boeing 777-200ER (one in storage at the Boryspil airport and two in Teruel, Spain).
According to UIA, it had a fleet of 42 aircraft last year. One aircraft was shot down accidentally in January and the lease agreements for the others expired.
"However, the information about the size of the airline’s aircraft fleet is not yet final. In the current reality of a sharp decline in air passenger volumes and gradual reopening of air routes, the airline is forced to implement a flexible fleet management policy based solely on the market situation. In the future, a number of decisions on the fleet will be made based on plans for operation on the market. In particular, the prospects for full restoration of UIA’s long-haul program will be considered when making these decisions," the air carrier said.
As previously reported, Ukraine International Airlines has updated its flight program for August this year. It was announced on July 21 that the airline has launched charter flights to Croatia (Split) for Ukrainian tourists.
