UIA

What you’ll eat by route and cabin

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, IATA: PS) follows a hybrid model where your meal experience depends on flight length and cabin. On short European hops, Economy typically includes complimentary water, with a buy‑on‑board menu of snacks, sandwiches, and hot or cold drinks; hot meals are usually available only if you pre‑order. Stretch the journey to medium‑haul and you’ll still find water complimentary, while most other items remain purchase‑only unless you’ve arranged a pre‑selected hot meal in advance. Long‑haul Economy brings a more traditional service: a hot meal shortly after take‑off and a lighter second service before landing, with soft drinks, tea, coffee, and water included; beer, wine, and spirits are generally available for purchase. If you like certainty—especially on longer daytime flights—pre‑ordering is the safest way to secure a full hot option in Economy.

Business Class is more curated across all distances. Expect a welcome drink, then a tray service that scales with flight time: a light cold meal on short sectors, a hot main with salad and dessert on medium‑haul, and a multi‑course offering on long‑haul. Presentation is simple but polished, with warm bread and a small sweet finish standard on most flights. Beverage service is generous—soft drinks, juices, specialty teas and coffees, and a complimentary bar including wines and spirits. On overnight long‑haul sectors, a second lighter service or snacks between meals are typically offered, and crew are happy to pace courses to suit your rest.

Special diets and allergies

UIA accommodates common dietary needs when requested in advance. Options generally include vegetarian, vegan, gluten‑free, lactose‑free, low‑salt, and diabetic meals, along with child and baby meals; kosher and halal meals are offered on selected routes from catering stations that support them. These are not stocked by default, so you’ll need to pre‑order—ideally at least 24–36 hours before departure—and reconfirm if your itinerary changes. While crews take care, the airline cannot guarantee an entirely allergen‑free environment, and trace cross‑contact in catering facilities is possible. If you have a severe allergy, carry necessary medication, inform the crew, and consider bringing your own sealed snacks; for safety reasons, personal food cannot be heated on board.

Quality, variety, and beverages

The food approach is unfussy and familiar: European‑style salads, comforting mains like chicken with grains, pasta or rice dishes, and a simple dessert. Pre‑ordered meals in Economy tend to be more substantial than items bought on board, arriving hot with a side and bread. In Business, quality improves with course variety rather than heavy embellishment—think fresh greens, a choice of mains, cheese or fruit, and a tidy plated dessert. Portions are balanced, and the overall feel is practical, not flashy, which works well on busy turnarounds and overnight itineraries.

Beverages include water, juices, soft drinks, and hot drinks on all flights, with timing aligned to the main service. In Economy, alcohol is typically sold by the miniature; in Business, a curated selection of wines, beer, and standard spirits is complimentary. Local laws can affect service on particular routes, and you may be asked to pause consumption during certain phases of flight. You’re free to bring duty‑free alcohol on board, but regulations prohibit consuming your own alcoholic drinks in flight. For comfortable hydration, alternate water with other beverages and consider skipping heavy caffeine right before trying to sleep.

Pre‑ordering: how and when

The simplest path to getting the meal you want is to arrange it before you fly. After booking, visit UIA’s Manage Booking page (or ask your travel agent) to see if pre‑order is available on your flight; selection can close a day or more before departure, and earlier requests are more likely to be confirmed. Choose from standard or special‑diet menus, then save your receipt or screenshot the confirmation. Your name and choice are added to the onboard manifest, so there’s no need to remind the crew unless you wish. If your plans change, revisit your booking to modify or cancel the selection—meal availability can shift with aircraft swaps and catering stations.

Partnerships and catering sources

UIA does not market a celebrity‑chef program; instead, it works with certified catering partners at its hubs and outstations. That means menus may vary slightly by origin, but standards for handling, temperature control, and allergens are consistent across suppliers. On long‑haul and in Business Class, you’ll notice more variety where facilities allow, while smaller stations keep things straightforward. It’s a pragmatic approach that favors reliability over flair—and helps keep special‑meal logistics predictable.

Practical tips before you fly

A little planning goes a long way with UIA’s service model. If you care about a hot entree in Economy, pre‑order it; otherwise assume a paid snack setup on short and medium routes. For strict diets, place the special‑meal request early and add a backup snack you know you can eat. Bring a payment card for buy‑on‑board items, and keep your receipt if you pre‑selected a meal. Pack a refillable bottle to top up after security, and let the crew know if you’ll be sleeping so they can save your meal. Finally, policies can vary by route and season, so it’s wise to glance at your booking again a day or two before departure for any catering notes.

What to expect onboard

UIA’s entertainment offering varies notably by aircraft and route, so it’s worth setting expectations before you fly. On long‑haul aircraft that have individual systems, you’ll find full-featured seatback screens with a curated catalog. On many short‑haul flights around Europe and the Middle East, entertainment is simpler, sometimes limited to shared overhead monitors or your own device. Think of it as a spectrum: robust, modern IFE on select wide‑bodies; basic or no built‑in IFE on much of the narrow‑body fleet. If knowing what you’ll have matters, check your exact aircraft type in your booking and plan to bring personal entertainment as a backup.

Movies, TV, music, and games

When your flight features personal screens, you’ll typically see a rotating library of international films, popular European and Ukrainian titles, and family picks. Expect a handful of current releases, some classics, and short‑form TV—enough to comfortably cover a long sector without feeling repetitive. Music sections usually include themed playlists and albums across pop, rock, classical, and world genres, so you can settle in with a soundtrack that suits your mood. Simple seatback games—think puzzles, trivia, and casual arcade titles—offer a light diversion between meals. Language tracks and subtitles are available on selected titles; the mix changes regularly, but English options are common alongside regional languages.

How you’ll access it

Access depends on the hardware onboard. On UIA’s wide‑body aircraft (such as the Boeing 777 when scheduled), content is delivered through responsive seatback touchscreens with on‑screen menus, and most seats provide a USB port for device charging. Some Boeing 737s use overhead monitors for shared programs during safety and short features; Embraer jets and many 737 routes may have no built‑in screens at all. UIA has not widely rolled out a wireless streaming portal to personal devices, so plan to rely on your own downloads if your flight lacks screens. Power availability varies—USB is typical on newer wide‑bodies, while AC sockets are more common in premium cabins—so carry a charged power bank as insurance.

Cabin differences you’ll notice

In Business Class on long‑haul flights, the screen is generally larger and brighter, and you can expect higher‑quality headphones or even noise‑cancelling sets provided by the crew. Economy Class on those same aircraft shares the full catalog, just on smaller displays, and usually with standard earbuds available on request. On short‑haul aircraft without personal screens, the experience is largely the same across cabins, with differences centered on service and comfort rather than entertainment tech. If you’re traveling with kids, consider that parental controls and children’s sections tend to be easier to manage from individual screens, which are more common on wide‑body sectors. As always, aircraft swaps can happen, so treat any advance expectation as a helpful guide rather than a guarantee.