TravTalk India Online Magazine
On May 1, Ukraine International Airline launched its first non-stop flight from Delhi to Kiev. Besides winning over tourists from India, Ukraine has also seen Indian students travelling to the country for higher education.
Simranjeet Singh
Ukraine’s flag carrier has started operating its first non-stop scheduled connection from Delhi to Kiev from May 1, 2018. The Boeing 767 aircraft will have three different classes — Business Class, Premium Economy, and Economy. The 267-seater flight will take a total journey time of 6 hours and 30 minutes. Two hundred and fourty two passengers boarded from Delhi with exceptional inaugural round trip price of ₹26,500. “India being a great potential market for tourism, we have been planning to launch the flight for consecutive years and preparing to provide with the best of our abilities to the travellers from Delhi to Kiev or beyond Kiev. We launched the direct flight between both the capitals and Ukraine international Airline is also eligible to fly to another nine cities of Ukraine and 40 international destinations within Europe for passengers from Delhi,” said Sergey Fomenko, Vice President Commerce, Ukraine International Airlines.
“India is a great potential market for tourism. We have been planning to launch the flight for consecutive years for the travellers from Delhi to Kiev or beyond Kiev”
Speaking about the potentialities of Ukraine as a travel destination, Igor Polikha, Ambassador of Ukraine to India said, “Ukraine can be defined in three terms — incredible, unique, and hospitable. It has a lot to offer, including, its diverse natural beauty and its scenic and mesmerising view from the hills. Ukraine’s monuments are worth a study and its distinctive national cuisine is to relish upon.”
Ukraine has seen a rise in Indian students travelling to obtain higher education. Universities of Ukraine have been very popular amongst Indian students and this is a new trend which the airlines have found. Currently there are 10,000 students staying in Ukraine and to enhance the growth rate of Indian students in the country, UIA will consider providing special rates for them.
STIC Group, the GSA for Ukraine International Airlines, is performing various steps to promote the airlines. The competitive inaugural price technique is for ₹26,500 round trip from Delhi to Kiev. The frequency of the direct connection flight is now four times in a week. Speaking on the code partnership plans, Subhash Goyal, Chairman STIC Group said, “We are looking at Air India and Jet Airways for Code Partnership as we want to bring tourism from Ukraine and various other 40 international destinations to India. This historic step will help tourism sector and it will see about 20-25 per cent growth by 2019.”
