LOT Polish Airlines ranked first in the ranking of the quietest airlines of the Heathrow Airport in London. The flag carrier of Poland was named the airline that emits the lowest level of noise by the Heathrow Airport. This outstanding result was possible thanks to modern Boeing 737 MAX 8s operating flights to and from LHR and Polish pilots’ precise landing technique.
In the FlyQuiet ranking for the 3Q 2018 published by the Heathrow Airport, LOT ranked first and scored as many as 945 points among 50 airlines that operate regular flights to the Heathrow Airport. It is LOT’s best score in the history of the FlyQuiet Program, and the Polish air carrier scored higher than the airline which ranked second by almost 30 points.
Due to very intensive traffic at the airport and housing developments located nearby, varied landing charges are used at Heathrow Airport being one of the largest airports in Europe, such as a financial incentive for the airlines to use quieter aircraft. A few years ago, LOT ranked at the bottom of the list.
Its score improved when the flag carrier of Poland started to operate flights to Heathrow in London with Boeing 737-800 NGs (instead of B737-400s). LOT once again rose in the ranking thanks to Boeing 737 MAX 8s, which are currently used to fly between Warsaw and London Heathrow Airport. The first passengers flew by MAX at the beginning of December last year.
“Equipped with modern CFM engines, B737 MAX 8s allow reducing fuel consumption and noise footprint which is a nuisance to the residents of the airport’s neighbouring area. Not only does that help the airline save millions per year, but it is also beneficial to the environment as lower fuel consumption always leads to lower CO2 emission,” says Adrian Kubicki, LOT’s Corporate Communications Director. “We are glad to be the ranking’s leader even the more so as the success is equally attributed to modern aircraft and our pilots,” he adds.
One of the FlyQuiet ranking criteria is the application of the so-called continuous descent approach (CDA) procedure. “Our pilots are masters of that technique, which is reflected in FlyQuiet statistics. We appreciate the fact that our pilots care about the comfort of the residents of the airport’s neighbouring area, and thanks to their perfect landing technique, precision and skills, we have been able to decrease noise emission quite fast not only at the Heathrow Airport but also at numerous other airports we fly to,” adds Adrian Kubicki.
LOT turned out to be the ranking’s leader also when it comes to improving the punctuality of its flights to the Heathrow Airport. Thanks to the reliability of Boeing 737 MAX 8s, the Polish airlines practically eliminated delays which previously resulted in the necessity of landing during curfew hours.
Boeing 737 MAX 8 is LOT’s state-of-the-art narrow-body aircraft and there are four machines of that type in the airline’ fleet, including aircraft with SP-LVD identification marks painted in a special “100 Years of Poland Regaining Independence” livery.
The delivery of the fifth aircraft, this time with a standard LOT’s livery, is scheduled for the next month. Based on agreements signed by LOT, by the end of 2019, its fleet will have comprised 12 Boeing 737 MAX 8s.
MAX has a seating capacity of 186. The interior of the passenger cabin features the Boeing Sky Interior, which is based on the solutions used in the Dreamliner. MAX was equipped with two new generation CFM LEAP-1B engines and has a range of 5,750 km (2,250 km more compared to B737-400). Its average fuel consumption is more than 20% lower compared to 737-400, and 15% lower vis-a-vis B737 800 NG. Thanks to its engines, the aircraft’s noise reduction is down by as much as 40%, and CO2 emission is much lower compared to other machines of the same class, which results in lower airport charges, e.g. at the Heathrow Airport.
The carrier now offers 105 scheduled flights (the latest one was the Warsaw-Beirut route announced in mid-November). Since the beginning of 2016, LOT has announced the launch of 64 flights, including non-stop services from Warsaw to Miami, Los Angeles, Newark, Seoul, Tokyo and Singapore, from Budapest to New York City and Chicago, from Kraków to Chicago, and from Rzeszów to Newark.
Currently, LOT’s fleet consists of 75 aircraft, and by the end of 2018, the number of aeroplanes will have reached 80. In 2017, LOT carried a total of over 6.8 million passengers, up more than 25% year on year. It plans to reach the level of 8.9 million passengers this year, and to exceed the 10 million mark in 2019.
Tickets for LOT flights may be purchased by all sales channels, including www.lot.com, via LOT Contact Center, and from agents.
Warsaw, 30 November 2018
