TORONTO — Ukraine International Airlines has launched its new nonstop scheduled flights between Kyiv and Toronto, with three times weekly service on wide body B767-300ER aircraft.

With an inaugural at Toronto’s Pearson Airport last night that included a ribbon-cutting ceremony and speech by UIA President and CEO Yuri Miroshnikov, UIA now operates six long-haul destinations in and out of Kyiv: Bangkok, Beijing, Colombo, Delhi, New York and Toronto.

Flights operate Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays with three-class service, in Business Class, Premium Economy Class and Economy Class.

Flight duration from Toronto to Kyiv is nine hours and 50 minutes and on the way back, 10 hours and 15 minutes. One-way economy class fares including all taxes and surcharges included from Toronto to Kiev start at US$455.

Out of Toronto, flight PS242 departs at 11:15 p.m., arriving in Kyiv at 4:05 p.m. the next day. On the return leg, flight PS241 flies out of Kyiv at 11:20 a.m., arriving back in Toronto at 2:35 p.m.

“Toronto is a new logical point on UIA’s route map in North America where one of the largest Ukrainian diasporas reside which is very interested in convenient air connectivity with their historical homeland,” said Evgeniya Satska, UIA Communications Director.

The new flights also mean that passengers from the multinational GTA can now reach other points from Ukraine International’s network with a connection at Boryspil International Airport. “This will help to continue developing Kyiv as a transfer hub,” said Satska.

UIA passengers can also make connections in Toronto from all major cities in Canada as well as from Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Mexico City. From Kyiv there are connections to/from domestic Ukraine, Turkey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Israel, UAE and Iran.