Review: Ukraine International Airlines Business Class 767 Kiev To New York

At least on LOT's 767s they have personal entertainment...

Ukraine is game to you?

They were giving a hint to fat Americans to slim down. Only the plants flying to the USA have such narrow seats. At least you had hot ukrainian women to ogle at

Still looks a bit better than the LUS 757 that flies from PHX-HNL... At least you can earn miles for that flight.

3hr50mins? Prob a type

Looks like USA domestic first seating but narrow. I think I'd be OK with the seats at the right price but the lack of either IFE or seat power is a killer. Even if you brought your own movie device you'd run out of power on a 10 hour flight.
Great post. It's good to know what to expect.

Sounds like every international flight I took in Biz Class in the 80s and 90s. I sat on a NWA flight from DTW to NRT for 14 hours in an angled seat with no electronic entertainment. People chatted with strangers, slept, read books. I flirted with the handsome FA. Shared stories with other passengers, drank a lot, etc. Its what people did before we had an electronic screen to stare at. Plus, how could anyone be bored sitting next to Tiffany? 🙂

Chloe, you're wrong. LOT's 767s were retired a few years ago. It's fully flat BUS product on their 787s now which Lucky reviewed a while back also.

This somehow makes it seem so much less actively horrible than it felt at the time.

I'm actually offended by this "product". Yikes.

—JRL

A big +1 to @Mark F. and his wonderful observation.

Ah! To be in my 20's again, back in the early 1980s, when flirting with the male flight attendants was the best, most enjoyable IFE amenity.

Good catch, wandering entrepreneur. I also believe that 3 hours 50 min is a typo.
That would have been also too much on this plane...
😉

It looks like you flew on UR-GED. With this in mind I can say:

1993 called - Ansett want's it's 767 back.

Just bad! Not the '80's but it's definitely not anything one could call "premium" by today's standards. Hard to forget those 747s with no IFE and huge smoking sections - boring and miserable! My lungs hurt for two says after each flight.

3h50m Flying time. Concorde style.:)

That's a lot more space than the Concorde and even faster. Good deal

I played cards with my buddy all the way back from Hong Kong. Made time fly much faster than the entertainment system or wifi could have. Maybe those flights are great times to just enjoy the way flying was a while back.

@ Mark F. @ Ryan -- We actually did play cards at one point! If Ben had been less sick (or if the onboard liquor had been less awful) it would have probably been a bit better, but still...

3hrs 50????????

Looks like Chicken Kiev (if it had butter inside). In the 80's we collectively enjoyed watching the movies like in a movie theater. I also read things (books, magazines, newspapers).

I would generally avoid flying UIA while Ukraine is trying to survive war with Russia.

"As it turns out, the champagne was a Jaume Serra Cava (six 750ML bottles retail for 16.50EUR), which was actually reasonably drinkable."

Yes, I think that's because it's sparkling Industrial Grade ethanol mixed with water, sweetener, flavoring, and injected with CO2. Ya know, sort of like Korean Soju, which I think is the by-product of Samsung's electronics manufacturing processes.

Ya, know, sort of like this: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Food-Grade-Ethanol-Hydrous-Ethyl-Alcohol_50025045022.html

I'd be curious to have seen a picture of the economy cabin with their 2-4-2 seating. These business class reviews are simply a dime-a-dozen and I find it difficult to read the complaints about how there was no tablecloth or relief that the the glassware was actually glass. Do people really care?
The vast majority of travelers fly in economy, but hardly ever a word about it.
Thank you.

@ Chris McMahon -- I walked back there to try and take a picture, but everyone was standing in the aisles and I couldn't get a clear shot. It was tight, and looked unpleasant.

And I think people do care, given the relative cost of premium cabin products (with either miles or dollars). There's also more product differentiation than in economy, and thus more things to actually review. For economy insights though, I highly recommend RouteHappy, which gives a nice rundown on IFE, outlets, etc.

Thanks for your response Tiffany.

This was my experience with Hawaiian on an "international" business-class flight, also on an old 767, between Honolulu and Pago Pago, American Samoa. While the plane was refreshed, there was no personal entertainment device except for a no-brand tablet with a few random movies and limited audio. The blanket and pillow were the same as the Ukrainian blank and pillow. The catering was edible but pathetic with only the booze and Kona coffee being any good. Yet the price for this flight was about $1,500, if I recall correctly. You need to pay for business-class, as the American Samoans are so obese that you won't be comfortable sitting next to them in economy or premium-economy.

Looks like you traveled back in time to the early 1990s...

I hope Tiffany was careful with her first main course, since it looks like there were bits on tinfoil in it...

A Spanish "champagne" is not a "champagne"

@Chris McMahon - complaining about Lucky not writing economy reviews (Ben and co. do snap the occasional picture) is like going on a website that concentrates on Apple iOS and complaining about the lack of Android-device articles. It's just not what OMAAT concentrates on. There are infrequent economy reviews (Travis has posted several in the past, although not recently), and the occasional economy picture, but that's just not what Ben is interested in, and while there are other writers who post on the site, it's Ben's site and he sets the tone.

Personally if I had the choice to review a class I would avoid Economy longhaul as well. It's pretty damn awful. I do wish we would see more premium economy reviews, several products for intermediate length seem good enough. Not so sure on long haul though.

I would still prefer that seat to WT+ in BA. The WT recline can't even compare

Aw now I feel like I have to fly on this airline. The mapping system showed is actually a "RosenView" from Rosen Aviation in Oregon. Airshow was one of our main competitors at the time that this system was developed ( around 2006 ). The map graphics look a bit outdated now because, well that's 2006 for you :).
It was mainly designed for private jets with a lot of customizable features but I have never seen one being used in a commercial jet. In regards to the altitude, the mapping system usually pulls the altitude information from the same data-bus that the rest of the aircraft systems are using so that 2000 ft. was (hopefully) accurate.

I enjoyed the review of this more vintage premium class. By the way, I know you are trying to review some of the smaller/niche airlines this year. Hopefully, TranAsia Airways of Taiwan was not one of them.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/transasia-airways-closes-down-1479799620

I am not as surprised by the fact that it closed (its LCC arm V-Air closed a few months ago), but more so by the buzzard fashion that it exited.

Lucky, you can't really call it "Pretzel Bread" when it ACTUALLY is a PRETZEL!

Today Monday July 17th, the 11AM flight is due to depart at 6.30PM.
Aircraft problems in NY, I am told.
I was coming from Odessa with the 7.45AM flight and was stuck in the airport.
I had to pay 3 times $32 to spend 6 hours in the business lounge because I am told I bought the business upgrade in the airport.
Not cool.

I can completely relate to this article. Horrible seats in a business class on the flight from Dubai to Kiev. I have the same expectation about the service and the food.

It's Kyiv not Kiev dude as a Ukrainian I hate when people say Kiev. Also I expect for it to go back as fast as possible