Ukraine's flag air carrier sees record number of passengers in 2017

KIEV, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), the country's largest air carrier, served the record number of passengers in 2017 thanks to the developing of international routes, local media reported on Tuesday, citing the company's press release.

Last year, the airline served 6.93 million passengers, which marked a 16.4-percent increase from 2016, according to the press release.

Out of the total passengers, about 88 percent were handled on the international routes.

In particular, the frequency of flights increased on the routes from the Ukrainian capital of Kiev to the Chinese capital of Beijing, Colombo city in Sri Lanka, and Germany's Dusseldorf.

The opening of the flights to Italy's Bergamo, Hungary's Budapest and Poland's Krakow has also contributed to the growth of the passenger number.

In summer this year, the UIA plans to launch a regular direct flight from Kiev to the city of Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province.

The UIA airline, which flies from its hub Boryspil International Airport in Kiev, currently operates over 1,100 domestic and international flights per week, with non-stop services from Ukraine to 38 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Enditem