| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 19/11/01 |
| Author: | Page Number: 22 |
| Copyright: Other |
LOTlooks to boost flights over summer
LOT Polish Airlines plans to increase summer flights from the UK to meet demand from travellers looking for short-haul destinations.
The carrier intends to increase its 2002 capacity to Cracow, operate a direct flight from London to Gdansk and relaunch flights from Manchester. The Gdansk operation, and a Warsaw service, were axed by LOT partner British Airways from Gatwick after September 11, but the Polish nationalcarrier feels there will be demand from the UK.
Regional director for UK and Ireland Slawomir Noszczak said: “We think there is an opportunity for short-haultraffic in the current climate, with passengers reluctant to fly long-haul. We are confident we still have good capacity on our UK-Poland network to service this market.”
He said LOT wants to improve co-operation with BA, which will mean working more closely on UK-Poland routes and at Heathrow.
However, the carrier is part-owned by ailing Swissair and is uncertain what will happen to the airline’s 37% stake. LOT is in talks with Swissair, but is concerned it may be affected in the same way as Sabena, which Swissair also partly owned, and which is now bankrupt.