Rumbling Through Ukraine on an Antonov An-24: Lviv to Kyiv with Motor Sich

Background

In early 2019, I noticed that, in late May that year, the Belarusian tour agency Merlintour would be organising its ninth aviation tour. Offering aviation enthusiasts the enviable opportunity to fly on a variety of rare Soviet-built aircraft over a long weekend, this annual event has proven popular with enthusiasts from across Europe and further afield. However, with prices for most of these sightseeing flights exceeding €300 each, the opportunity came at a considerable cost and ultimately stretched beyond my budget.

While examining the tour’s schedule, I noted that it included a flight aboard a rare Motor Sich Airlines Antonov An-74. This aircraft would operate an hour-long ‘joyride’ flight on Monday afternoon before flying those who opted for the Ukrainian extension of the tour to Zaporizhia. Using this information, I visited Motor Sich Airlines’ website and searched for flights between Zaporizhia and Minsk that Monday. As anticipated, only the morning service to Belarus was listed, with no sign of a return flight. Although the website indicated this service would be operated by an Antonov An-140, the schedule strongly suggested that the outbound flight to Minsk would be an Antonov An-74. At a cost of 2453 UAH (£70), it offered the most affordable way to experience this rare aircraft, and I soon began seriously considering booking it. In the worst-case scenario, if the Antonov An-74 were replaced by another unusual type, I would still have little to lose.

Within a day, I meticulously planned an itinerary for a long weekend in Ukraine and Belarus. This would begin with an early morning Ryanair flight from Stansted to Lviv, followed by a connection to Kyiv aboard a Motor Sich Airlines Antonov An-24. After spending a couple of days in Kyiv, I would fly to Zaporizhia on a Windrose Airlines Embraer 145 (operated on behalf of Ukraine International Airlines) before heading to Minsk the following day. Finally, after a day in Minsk, I would return to Heathrow the next morning on Belavia and KLM via Amsterdam, the latter airline handling the booking.

Booking

Although Motor Sich Airlines operates a fleet of mostly ‘vintage’ aircraft, their website is the opposite – bright, modern, and easy to navigate. This provides a wide range of pages that details virtually everything that a prospective passenger may need to know before their trip. For those not so au fait with Ukrainian, Motor Sich Airlines’ website is also offered in English and Russian. Using the English language version, I failed to spot any sort of language or grammatical errors, whilst this was quick-to-load and left me with absolutely no complaints. Within the space of a few minutes, I had booked two tickets – an Antonov An-24 operated flight from Lviv to Kyiv, and a flight from Zaporizhia to Minsk which I hoped would be operated by the elusive Antonov An-74. Paying for these without issue, I received my receipts and e-tickets almost instantly via email. 

The Journey

At 1100, I touched down in the historic and well-preserved city of Lviv in the far west of Ukraine following an unremarkable Ryanair flight across Europe from London Stansted. Seeing as we were not scheduled to whizz off to Kyiv until 1750, we had plenty of time on our hands to explore some of the delights of the city centre, and, with the help of Google Maps, we embarked on a self-guided walking tour. 

Ending our whirlwind tour at Lviv’s Grand Opera House, we stumbled upon a direct marshrutka route to the airport. After a significant wait that raised doubts as to whether the service even existed, a battered yellow van eventually pulled up. Upon coming to a halt, we paid the bargain fare of just 7 UAH (£0.20/€0.24/$0.26) and soon whizzed off down the busy Friday afternoon streets at an alarming pace! Despite being separated by just five kilometres, thanks to the bus’ winding route, the journey from the centre to the airport took about 40 minutes, leaving me momentarily convinced that we had ended up taking the wrong marshrutka!

Thankfully, at 1515, we caught sight of Lviv Airport’s impressive, old, and now-closed Terminal 1 before the van came screeching to a halt. From there, we walked the last hundred or so metres to the terminal on foot, entering the modern glass-and-metal Terminal A with plenty of time to go until our departure. Despite checking in and selecting our seats online, preferring paper boarding passes, we decided to linger around in the landside portion of the terminal until check-in for the flight to Kyiv opened. Wandering around, I found Terminal A to be bright and modern, with this being just seven years old at the time of our trip having opened in preparation for the Euro 2012 football tournament. Inside, the shared arrivals-departures landside area offers numerous car rental desks, a bureaux de change, five eateries, along with complimentary wifi, charging points and clean toilets that left me with little to complain about. 

With some time on our hands, naturally, my father and I opted to visit the landside bar which hosted a fine selection of locally brewed beers from Lviv’s Kumpel Brewery. Following a quick pint, I left my father in the bar and wandered outside to have a closer look at Lviv Airport’s old terminal. Constructed in 1955, the terminal’s grandiose architecture is very much atypical of the era, with such styles seen across the former Soviet Union. By the time I returned to Terminal A, check-in for Motor Sich Airlines’ evening flight to Kyiv had commenced. Joining the short queue consisting of just a single passenger in front of us, the friendly agent soon gave us a warm and friendly greeting, and undertook check-in procedures quickly and efficiently, soon handing us our two boarding passes. As reasonable as Lviv Airport’s terminal was, unfortunately, this did lack any sort of airside views. Thus, once we had our boarding passes in hand, we decided to head upstairs to the entrance to the domestic security checkpoint. As with check-in, security was near totally devoid of passengers, and following a quick check, we managed to make it airside in about a minute. 

Seeing as Lviv Airport sees nothing more than a handful of domestic flights, the airside domestc area is small and tucked away in one corner of the terminal. This offers little by means of facilities beyond a quiet café-bar, a hot drinks vending machine, a business lounge and some toilets. However, like the landside area, this was clean, well-maintained, and comfortable enough for our short stay. Importantly, the large windows provided excellent views of the apron and runway, although the activity outside was minimal. As we waited, we spotted a Polish Gulfstream G150 taxiing out for its short flight to its homebase, as well as a couple of arrivals – an Airbus A320 operated by the now defunct Ernest Airlines, and a locally based Beechcraft King Air. Meanwhile, in the distance a pair of rare and long-stored Yakovlev Yak-42s could be seen, both of which had once operated for the long-defunct Lviv Airlines. Meanwhile, I also managed to catch sight of the tail of the Antonov An-24 that would soon take us to Kyiv, with this parked in front of the old terminal building. 

Unlike the many airlines that schedule short turnaround times to keep their aircraft in the air for as long as possible, Motor Sich Airlines’ fleet often operate their scheduled passenger services in the morning and afternoon, and remain on the ground during the day. This was true for the Antonov An-24 that would take us to Kyiv, which we had seen arriving in Lviv that morning whilst we had waited to pass through immigration upon arriving in Ukraine. 

That afternoon, we would have the pleasure of flying on Antonov An-24RV UR-MSI, the slightly younger of the two Cokes in Motor Sich Airlines’ fleet. However, manufactured in March 1972 and thus being over 47 years old at the time of our flight, this was by no means a spring chicken! This particular aircraft commenced its life with Aeroflot’s Central Region division as CCCP-47699. Following almost two decades of service for the Soviet giant, following the collapse of the Soviet Union this migrated southwards to Turkish carrier Mas Air where it flew as TC-MOB. By the mid-1990s, the aircraft found itself back in the Motherland and ended up entering storage at Bykovo Airport. Fortunately, this was not the end of the line for this turboprop, and in 1998 the aircraft was re-registered UR-47699 and delivered to Motor Sich Airlines for whom it has operated for ever since. In the week before our flight, the aircraft had vistited all four destinations on Motor Sich Airlines’ route map at the time – conducting 20 flights between Kyiv Zhuliany, Lviv, Minsk, Odesa, and Zaporizhzhia. This equated to over 6,000 miles—roughly the distance between London and Hong Kong or Los Angeles!

Seeing as my father and I had been the first two passengers to head airside, we initially enjoyed the luxury of our own private waiting area and it was some time before passengers began to filter through. However, eventually this became a little busier. That evening, the flight’s clientele appeared to be somewhat diverse, consisting of a mixture of suited business travellers, cheerful leisure flyers heading for a weekend in the capital city and a Belgian aviation enthusiast, who was like us, visiting Ukraine for a ride on Motor Sich Airlines’ rare aircraft! 

With 20 minutes to go until departure, the staff member who had checked us in appeared and at 1730 made an announcement in Ukrainian, English, and Russian regarding the commencement of boarding. As expected given the Antonov’s lack of any sort of premium cabin and the need for a bus ride to the aircraft, all passengers were invited to board at once. Soon, my boarding pass was scanned and we headed down a set of long escalators to the ground floor before stepping onto a waiting bus. Seeing as the Antonov An-24 features just 48 seats, it did not take too long for all passengers to make it onto the bus, and with no stragglers, about 5 minutes after boarding was announced, the bus doors closed and we commenced the short journey to the aircraft. 

As the bus came to a halt, passengers formed an orderly queue at the Antonov’s rear steps, however with the ground staff enforcing a strict ‘one passenger on the stairs at a time’ rule, this ended up taking up a while. However, with this enabling me to get a good look at the glorious Antonov An-24 basking in the evening sunshine, and with the ground staff having no issue with passengers snapping photos, I most certainly could not complain! When it was my turn to board the turboprop, I cautiously climbed the Antonov’s rickety built-in steps and ducked down slightly to avoid banging my head on the seemingly low door before entering the spacious area at the rear of the aircraft. This is home to the small galley, a lavatory and leads onto the semi-open rear hold. Once safely onboard, I was greeted by the vintage aircraft’s oily stench, and received a very warm welcome from the sole flight attendant in Ukrainian before I turned left and entered the cabin. 

Seeing as this was my third flight on an Antonov An-24, and being an aviation enthusiast, I knew what to expect from the aircraft’s interior. However, I imagine that passengers who are less familiar with the type may be taken aback, and perhaps a little unnerved by the Antonov’s vintage cabin! This featured door-less hat racks instead of overhead compartments, curtains in place of window shades and a very dated feel! After navigating through the narrow aisle, we reached Row 3, where I slid into Seat 3D. I was delighted to find my seat aligned perfectly with one of the nine bulbous portholes on the right-hand side of the aircraft which offered an excellent view of the Ivchenko AI-24 turboprop engine that would play a key role in powering Ukraine that evening. 

Far from your low cost lightweight seat, once settled in, I found the seat to be comfortable and well-padded, offering a very good amount of legroom for a turboprop airline. Each seat was covered in blue fabric, whilst fabric antimacassars were also offered on which Motor Sich Airlines’ logo could be seen embroidered. Despite the aircraft’s vintage aesthetic, the cabin was spotlessly clean and appeared to be in great condition, with only a few marks and scratches seen across this. 

Turning to the seatback pocket, this contained a sick bag, a safety card, and a random publication—a quirk of Motor Sich Airlines, which lacks its own in-flight magazine. That day I received a copy of Millennium Club, while my father ended up with At the Height. To cater to international passengers, some seatbacks contained copies of the English-language newspaper, the Kyiv Post. The safety card in my father’s seatback was a more recently updated version, with far fewer grammatical and spelling errors than mine, although a few still remained! 

That Friday evening, the flight appeared to be virtually full, yet boarding was a swift affair and came to an end at 1747, three minutes before our scheduled departure time. Interestingly, many Ukrainian passengers seemed to find the Antonov to be somewhat of a novelty and snapped photographs of the aircraft’s curtains, alongside the no-smoking and seatbelt signs, which, as on many Soviet-built aircraft, were projected onto the cabin walls.

Once all passengers were settled, the cabin door was closed, and the flight attendant began the pre-flight announcements in Ukrainian, Russian, and English. This was a change from my previous flights with Motor Sich Airlines’ Yakovlev Yak-40 between Kyiv and Odesa, where no English version of the announcements had been undertaken. Unfortunately, by the time the flight attendant began the English announcement, the engines had started their loud and drawn-out start-up sequence, rendering much of this inaudible. Positioned next to one of the mighty turboprop engines, I could feel the cabin begin to vibrate as the noise intensified and the aircraft rumbled into life. 

At exactly 1750, the aircraft noisily powered out of its stand and commenced a very short taxi to the end of Runway 13. Within about a minute of leaving our parking position, the Antonov An-24 arrived at the runway, and without pausing, the aircraft taxied onto this before the engines roared into life as we began our takeoff roll. As expected, for the duration of our departure and initial climb out, significant noise and vibration filled the cabin, making a flight onboard the Antonov An-24 perhaps one to miss for those with a fear of flying! 

Eventually, the aircraft gently rotated into the clear Ukrainian skies and, as is characteristic of many Soviet-built aircraft, the climb was rather shallow, providing fantastic views of the lush green fields surrounding Lviv through the large windows. Not too long after takeoff, the aircraft banked eastwards, setting us on course for Kyiv. Around 20 minutes after departure, the flight attendant made another announcement, although once again this could barely be heard thanks to the intense levels of noise, during which they thanked passengers for flying with Motor Sich Airlines and advised passengers to use the call buttons above their seats if they required any assistance during the flight. 

A short time after levelling off at 19,000 feet, neither the engine noise nor the considerable vibrations subsided by much. Instead, the constant hum and shaking added to the vintage feel of the flight and served as a reminder of the Antonov An-24’s age, offering a very different experience to your modern ATR 72 or Dash 8 Q400! 

When it comes to complimentary snack offerings, Motor Sich Airlines far outshines Ukraine International Airlines on its domestic services. Whilst the national carrier only offers a cup of water on these routes, Motor Sich Airlines provides a more substanstial offering. Commencing this, the flight attendant passed through the cabin with a tray of Motor Sich Airlines branded cups which contained still water. Approximately 10 minutes later, the flight attendant returned and handing out shrink-wrapped polystyrene trays which contained a light snack. That evening, this came in the form of a delicious sugary lemon tart, two boiled sweets, a wet wipe, a sachet of sugar, and a serviette. Following this, a second drinks service commenced, with passengers offered cups of boiling hot tea. Although the flight attendant had provided a warm welcome during boarding, they seemed to be a little cooler during the service, although this was perhaps expected given the need to serve all passengers and the fact that they were working alone.

 

As the flight continued eastwards, clouds began to obscure the view of the green fields and occasional towns below. Despite encountering some light turbulence, the Antonov An-24 felt incredibly sturdy and stable, reinforcing its reputation as a rugged workhorse of the skies. Once the trays and cups were collected, I decided to make a trip to the Antonov An-24’s sole toilet at the rear of the aircraft. Based on my previous experience onboard the Chinese-built Xian MA60, a derivative of this Antonov, I expected a cramped and dimly lit space that felt like an afterthought. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find the Antonov’s lavatory to be bright, relatively spacious, and clean, with retro-style fittings, including a single metal tap and other durable features.

After a brief exploration, I returned to my seat. With clouds obscuring the view below and no moving map available, tracking the aircraft’s progress was impossible. Even if the skies had been clear, my ability to identify Ukrainian towns from the air is admittedly rather limited. Around an hour into the flight, the engine noise and vibration subsided a little as the Antonov commenced its descent into the Ukrainian capital. At 1857, just after passing the city of Zhytomyr, the flight attendant made an announcement asking passengers to return to their seats, fasten their seatbelts, and ensure their ‘window shades’ were up.

As the Antonov An-24 began its gentle descent, it sliced through the clouds, and the fields and woodlands near the town of Bilohorodka became visible 4,800 feet below. At this time, the flight attendant made a final pass through the cabin, ensuring that everything was secure and in place for landing. Aligned for an approach to Runway 08, the aircraft’s landing gear was extended at 1909, accompanied by a noticeable thud as it locked into place. The once-rural landscape gave way to industrial estates and rows of uniform, Soviet-era apartment blocks as we neared Kyiv.

The final approach offered glimpses of the busy E40 motorway, a seemingly endless traffic jam heading into the city, and a railway line snaking through the suburbs. Moments later, the Antonov An-24 floated gracefully over the airport’s perimeter wall, making an exceptionally soft touchdown on Runway 08. The landing was followed by the characteristic roar of the turboprops as the aircraft decelerated. Turning off the runway, we taxied past the Ukrainian State Aviation Museum, home to a collection of rare Soviet-built aircraft, including three Antonov An-24s. This sight served as a poignant reminder of how fortunate I was to experience a flight on this museum piece! 

From there, we taxied past a cluster of active Antonov An-26s and Antonov An-72/74s operated by the Ukrainian military before arriving at the civilian ramp. At that time, the ramp was relatively quiet, occupied by only a couple of modern business jets and a Belavia Boeing 737 Classic painted in the airline’s retro blue-and-white livery. Interestingly, the engines were shut down as we glided into the stand, coming to a halt without needing additional thrust. Passengers began to gather their belongings, but there was none of the chaos often seen on modern flights – most seemed in no rush to disembark.

Around two minutes after arrival, the cabin door was opened, and disembarkation commenced. Following the same procedure as boarding, the ‘one passenger at a time’ rule on the built-in stairs slowed the process but allowed extra time to savour the aircraft’s vintage charm.

When it was my turn, I thanked the flight attendant, stepped down the stairs, and boarded the waiting bus. As one of the last passengers to disembark, the bus departed shortly after, bringing us to Kyiv Zhuliany’s modern domestic terminal. Thanks to the terminal’s small size and our lack of checked baggage, we exited the airport within seconds. A short walk down the driveway brought us to the bus stop, where we caught a marshrutka to the city’s main railway station. The journey took us past the airport’s highly appropriate gate guard – a colourfully painted Antonov An-24 sponsored by Bravo Airways and TPG tour operator. Without much waiting, we boarded a nearly empty marshrutka for a quick ride through Kyiv’s evening streets to the railway station, where we transferred to the metro and headed to Pechersk.