– and managed to end the first quarter with the passenger numbers down by only one third compared to the first quarter of last year. Ukraine International Airlines carried only 121,047 passengers on regular flights, only 13% the number of Q1 2020. By contrast, its charter passengers nearly tripled, to 201,685. During the first quarter, UIA says it returned $6.7 million to about 30,000 passengers for cancelled flights. During the full, first year of the pandemic, the airline says it has returned $33 million to passengers.