Ukraine International Airlines shrinks as 737 MAXs are delayed

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) is taking a break from expansion in 2019 following a three-year period of rapid growth despite challenging market conditions and political instability. The privately owned flag carrier has more than doubled in size since 2014, when Ukraine plunged into crisis, and is now more than 70% larger than its pre-crisis levels.

Sixth freedom has accounted for most of the growth, although UIA has also benefitted from recovering local demand. Approximately half of UIA's traffic now consists of transit passengers.

However, UIA is expecting a traffic decline in 2019, resulting in a large drop in market share as foreign LCCs pursue rapid expansion. UIA was initially planning flat capacity for 2019, but is now projecting a decrease of 5% to 6% due to the 737 MAX grounding.