LOT Polish Airlines

Overview

One of the oldest airlines in the industry, LOT Polish Airlines was actually established as early as January 1929. With its main hub situated at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport, the airline’s focus cities are actually based at John Paul II International Airport Krakow-Balice, Copernicus Airport Wrocław, Kraków-Balice, Poznań-Ławica Airport, Katowice International Airport, and Copernicus Airport Wrocław.

The airline’s frequent flyer program is Miles and More, with Executive Lounge as its member lounge. Joining Star Alliance, LOT Polish Airlines has several subsidiaries, namely EuroLOT and Centralwings. Its fleet size amounts to at least 60 aircraft models and the airline travels to over 50 destinations worldwide. Operating under its parent company, the State Treasury of Poland, LOT Polish Airlines’ headquarters is based at Warsaw, Poland.

Company Profile

LOT Polish Airlines is just the short name for Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. The airline is actually Poland’s very own flag carrier and operates both passenger and cargo flights. The airline’s domestic services connect Warsaw with approximately 10 major cities with more than 50 routes being operated all over Europe and right through to North America and the Middle East. Being one of the prominent members of Star Alliance since the year 2003, the airline actually has over 4,000 people under its employ.

Company History

Established back in January 1929, it was actually the Polish government that initiated the establishment of the airline, making it a state-owned self-governing enterprise. It did not take long for the airline to take over the existing domestic airlines at the time, including Aero and Aerolot. A year later, the airline was accepted into IATA, thereby opening an international route to Bucharest at first. Routes to other destinations soon followed, including Athens, Beirut, Berlin, Helsinki, even Rome, and many more.

Services were expectedly suspended during the onset of WWII and all of the airline’s aircrafts were pretty much destroyed at the time. The few that were not destroyed were detained as well. On March 1945, the Polish government made the decision to recreate the airline, and operations soon restarted. More and more aircraft models were added to the fleet, thereby leading to more routes established, particularly to the Middle East and Africa. Since then, LOT Polish Airlines has been expanding its operations and with its entry into Star Alliance, the airline has established a codesharing agreement with Singapore Airlines as well.