LOT increases frequencies to North America in Summer 2019

Starting from June 2019 LOT is going to increase the frequency of flights on its North American routes (Canada and USA). In response to passengers’ needs, such change is possible thanks to deliveries of new B787 Dreamliners scheduled for 2019.

Having announced its new non-stop service to Miami to be operated four times a week as of 1 June, LOT Polish Airlines continues its expansion on the North American market. The changed frequencies will be introduced in June 2019 in regard to the following long-haul services from Warsaw:

> Toronto: an increase from 9 to 12 flights per week (vis-a-vis the corresponding period last year)

> Los Angeles: an increase from 6 to 7 times a week

> Newark: an increase from 4 to 5 times a week (apart from that, weekly flights on the Rzeszów-Newark route will be maintained)

The increase in frequency is possible thanks to the expansion of LOT’s wide-body fleet planned for 2019, namely, the deliveries of aircraft ordered from Boeing. Currently, LOT has 11 Dreamliners, including eight 787-8s (with 252 seats for passengers) and three 787-9s (294 seats). By the end of next year, the total number of Dreamliners in LOT’s fleet will have reached 15 allowing the carrier to boost its transport capacity by 40%.

The deliveries of the other four machines in their larger 787-9 version are planned for 2019, including the first three scheduled to be delivered by the end of May. The new machines will be operated mostly on the routes from Warsaw: to Seoul, Tokyo Narita, Beijing and Chicago (also on the Chicago-Kraków route). Adding these aeroplanes to the fleet will allow using other aircraft of that type on the flights to Toronto, Los Angeles and Newark.

“The increase in frequencies on those routes is very good news for our passengers. North America, i.e. the USA and Canada, are our strategic long-distance markets. Enhanced passenger service to those destinations is consistent with LOT’s 2016-2020 strategy as part of which the Warsaw Chopin Airport hub is to be developed,” says Robert Ludera, Director of Network Planning and Scheduling Department at LOT.

LOT currently offers 14 long-distance flights, including nine to North America. LOT flies from Warsaw to New York City JFK and Newark, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Toronto, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing and Singapore, from Kraków to Chicago, from Rzeszów to Newark, and from Budapest to Chicago and New York City JFK. The flights on the Warsaw-Los Angeles route are the longest scheduled flights offered by LOT that last 12 hours and 20 minutes and the distance covered is nearly 9.7 thousand kilometres.

LOT has regular 105 destinations, which means that since the beginning of 2016 their number has increased by 64. In 2017 LOT carried a total of over 6.8 million passengers, up more than 25 per cent year on year. This year, it plans to carry approx. 8.9 million passengers and intends to exceed the 10 million mark in 2019. LOT has nearly 3,000 employees in a few dozen countries around the world.

Warsaw, 7 December 2018