Centralwings, the low-cost airline owned by LOT flag carrier had PLN 73m of EBIT loss in 2007, up from PLN 65m a year earlier.
“This was supposed to be our last year in the red. We estimated that the losses would amount to PLN 35m. Unfortunately, market conditions deteriorated substantially and our costs grew by 13.4 percent”, Waldemar Krolikowski, Centralwings CEO explained.
He pointed out that the market is consolidating. Irish Ryanair has acquired AirLingus. In Germany, the consolidation of Eurowings, Germanwings and TUI has already started. The CEO believes that Centralwings won’t be able to operate alone.
“The owner will make all decisions”, Waldemar Krolikowski said.
The supervisory board of Centralwings meets on Friday, while the supervisory board of LOT meets on March 4th.
Meanwhile, rival companies are growing.
“Wizz ordered 70 new aircraft. We face cutting the number of our planes”, the CEO said.
In 2007, rival airlines employed 30 percent of Centralwings’s pilots. The Polish low-cost found new ones only with difficulties. In addition, it had high costs because it launched a base in Krakow.
“I’m sure that provided we cooperate with LOT well, we are able to change Centralwings and build a strong company with no losses”, Waldemar Krolikowski stressed.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.281)