LOT cuts down the last flights. As said before, the flag carrier won’t fly from Warsaw to Stuttgart and Tallin. It will also limit European routes during the weekend. However, for the first time in many months, there is some good news, too. In spring, LOT will launch flights to Belgrade, Donieck and Dniepropietrowsk. In winter, the company will fly to Caribbean Islands, Canary Islands and to Thailand. There will be also more routes within Poland, i.e. to Krakow, Gdansk, Wroclaw, Poznan and Rzeszow: as many as 6-9 daily. Marek Serafin who is responsible for the network at LOT, promises more flights to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Vienna and Brussels.
“These are the most important business centres in Europe. We want to fly there 3-4 times daily”, Marek Serafin said.
He admits, however, that the situation is tough.
“The dynamics of passenger flights is decreasing, and we estimated that in the fourth quarter, the number of passengers flying from Poland and to Poland may fall”, Marek Serafin admitted.
Fewer people fly to the USA, more to Canada.
LOT hopes for compensation from Boeing which is delaying its deliveries of Dreamliners. These planes are – according to recent promises – come to Poland in 2010, or 2 years later than promised in the contract.
LOT’s optimistic forecasts provides for PLN 2.8bn (EUR 770m) of sales this year against PLN 2.98bn last year.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.275)