LOT Polish Airlines

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
LOT Polish Airlines
Image:LOT Polish Airlines logo.svg
IATA
LO		ICAO
LOT		Callsign
POLLOT [1]
Founded1 January 1929
HubsWarsaw Frederic Chopin Airport
Focus cities
Frequent flyer programMiles and More
Member loungeExecutive Lounge
AllianceStar Alliance
Subsidiaries
Fleet size58 (20 orders)
Destinations70
Parent companyPolskie Linie Lotnicze LOT SA
HeadquartersWarsaw, Poland
Key people
  • Piotr Siennicki (President, CEO)
  • Karolina Stanisławska (Vice President/Commerce)
  • Konrad Tyrajski (Vice President/Finance)
  • Jerzy Adamski (Vice President/Operations)
Website: http://www.lot.com
Image:Lot.b737-500.sp-lkb.arp.jpg
Boeing 737-500
"LOT" redirects here. For other uses, see LOT (disambiguation).

LOT Polish Airlines or LOT (Polish: Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT, abbreviated as PLL LOT) is the flag carrier of Poland, based in Warsaw. The name Polskie Linie Lotnicze means "Polish Airlines" in Polish, while lot means "flight". LOT operates scheduled passenger and cargo services: domestic services link Warsaw with ten cities and over 50 routes are operated throughout Europe and to the Middle East and North America. Its main base is at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport. LOT has been a member of Star Alliance since 2003.[2] Being established in 1929, LOT is one of the oldest airlines in the world.

The airline is owned by the Polish government (67.97%), SAirLines B.V. (a member of SAirGroup) (25.1%) and employees (6.93%).[3] It has 4,199 employees (March 2007).[2]

Contents

[edit] History

The airline was established on 1 January 1929 by the Polish government as a state owned self governing corporation taking over existing domestic lines Aero and Aerolot, and started operations on January 2.[4] The first aircraft used were Junkers F.13 and Fokker F.VII. Its first international service began on 2 August 1929 to Vienna.[4] Accepted into IATA in 1930, it opened an international route to Bucharest that year, followed by Berlin, Athens, Beirut, Helsinki, Rome and some others. Douglas DC-2, Lockheed L-10A Electra and L-14H Super Electra joined the fleet in 1935, 1936 and 1938 respectively (at its peak, LOT had 10 L-10, 10 L-14, 3 DC-2 and 1 Ju 52/3mge). It carried 218,000 passengers by the war.[4]

Services were suspended during the Second World War, and all of LOT's aircraft were either destroyed or detained. From August 1944 until December 1945 the Polish Air Force maintained basic transport in the country. On 10 March 1945 the Polish government recreated the LOT airline. In 1946, seven years after the service was suspended, the airline restarted its operations after receiving 10 Lisunov Li-2, then further 30 Li-2 and 9 Douglas C-47. Both domestic and international services restarted that year, first to Berlin, Paris, Stockholm and Prague.[5]

Five SNCASE SE.161 Languedoc joined the fleet in July 1947, followed by five Ilyushin Il-12B in April 1949 and 13-20 Ilyushin Il-14s in 1955-1957[5]. After the stalinist period in Poland, few Western aircraft were acquired: five Convair 240 in October 1957 and 1959 and three Vickers Viscount in November 1962[6]. Then the composition of the fleet shifted to Soviet aircraft only again.

The Ilyushin Il-18 (9 aircraft) was introduced in May 1961, leading to the establishment of routes to Africa and Middle East. The Antonov An-24 was delivered from April 1966 (20 used, on domestic routes), followed by the first jet airliners Tupolev Tu-134 in November 1968 (12 used) and the Ilyushin Il-62 long range jet airliner in May 1972. The introduction of Il-62 aircraft enabled transatlantic services to Montreal and New York. Tupolev Tu-154 mid-range airliners were acquired in the 1980s.

The current livery, with the large inscription LOT in blue on the fuselage front, and a blue tailfin, was introduced in 1977.[6]

In the late 1980s, with the fall of the communist system, the fleet shifted back to Western aircraft, beginning with acquisitions of the Boeing 767-200 in April 1989, followed by the ATR 72 in August 1991, Boeing 737-500 in December 1992 and Boeing 737-400 in April 1993. From the mid-1980s to early-1990s LOT flew from Warsaw to Chicago, Newark, New York and Toronto. In December 1992 the airline became a joint stock company, as a transitional step towards partial privatisation, which was effected in late 1999, with the SAirGroup acquiring a 37.6% stake. The Polish government has retained a controlling 51% holding. LOT created low cost arm Centralwings in 2004.[2]

On 26 October 2003, it became the fourteenth member of the Star Alliance. The airline has signed a codesharing agreement with Star Alliance partner Singapore Airlines.[citation needed]

[edit] Destinations

Main article: LOT Polish Airlines destinations

[edit] Fleet

[edit] Passenger

The LOT Polish Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[1]

LOT Polish Airlines and Centralwings Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers
(Business/Economy) 		Routes Notes
Boeing 737-400 8 147 (48/99) European and Middle-Eastern 6 Leased to Centralwings
Boeing 737-300 3 145 European All leased to Centralwings
Boeing 737-500 6 108 (36/72) European and Middle-Eastern
Boeing 767-200ER 2 202 (12/190) Transatlantic and Asian
Boeing 767-300ER 5 243 (18/225) Transatlantic and Asian 4 out of 5 have new long-haul business class
Boeing 787-8 (8 orders) 278 Entry into service: October 2008
European Launch Customer
Boeing 787-9 (8 options) 318 Transatlantic and Asian
Embraer ERJ 145 11 48 Domestic and European
Embraer 170 10 76 Domestic and European
Embraer 175 6
(12 orders) 		82 Domestic and European
Image:Lot.embraer.e-170-100st.sp-ldd.arp.jpg
Embraer E-170


On 7 September 2005 the airline ordered seven (with two options) Boeing 787-8 for its long haul operations for delivery in 2008.[7] LOT Polish Airlines will be a European launch carrier for the 787-8 type.

On 19 February 2007 the airline converted one option to make a total of eight Boeing 787s on order.[8]

[edit] Retired

[edit] Subsidiaries

Image:Atr-42-500 eurolot sp-ede.jpg
EuroLOT ATR-42-500

[edit] Codeshare agreements

LOT Polish Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines as of April 2007:

[edit] Incidents and accidents

  • 19 December 1962 — Vickers Viscount 804 on a scheduled flight from Brussels to Warsaw with a stop in Berlin crashed at the threshold of runway 33 at Warsaw while making a second approach using instrument landing at night in fog and in winter conditions. There were 33 fatalities (all on board).[9]
  • 2 April 1969 — Antonov An-24B crashed in the Polish mountains in Zawoja, off course, on a scheduled domestic flight from Warsaw to Kraków-Balice. There were 53 fatalities (all on board).[10]
  • 14 March 1980 — Ilyushin Il-62, flight LO 007, crashed near Warsaw airport after starting an overshoot due to a landing gear problem. When takeoff thrust was applied, the no.2 engine failed, severing the control cables for the elevator and rudder. There were 87 fatalities (all on board).[11]
  • 9 May 1987 — Ilyushin Il-62M, flight LO 5055. Shortly after departure from Warsaw, the aircraft's no.1 engine suffered an uncontained engine failure. Parts of the engine penetrated the fuselage and damaged the elevator control systems, causing a loss of elevator authority and eventually a loss of control of the aircraft. There were 183 fatalities (all on board), making this Poland's worst air disaster.[12]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ ICAO 8585 Edition 141
  2. ^ a b c "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-04-03, p. 107. 
  3. ^ LOT Corporate Information. PLL LOT (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  4. ^ a b c Adam Jońca, Samoloty linii lotniczych 1931-1939, WKiŁ, Warsaw 1985, ISBN 83-206-0504-0
  5. ^ a b Adam Jońca, Samoloty linii lotniczych 1945-1956, WKiŁ, Warsaw 1985, ISBN 83-206-0529-0
  6. ^ a b Adam Jońca, Samoloty linii lotniczych 1957-1981, WKiŁ, Warsaw 1986, ISBN 83-206-0530-X
  7. ^ Boeing Press Release (September 2005)
  8. ^ Boeing Press Release (February 2007)
  9. ^ Aviation Safety Network, crash of aircraft registration: SP-LVB.
  10. ^ Aviation Sefety Network, crash of aircraft registration: SP-LTF.
  11. ^ Aviation Sefety Network, crash of aircraft registration: SP-LAA.
  12. ^ Aviation Safety Network, crash of aircraft registration: SP-LBG.

[edit] External links

Image:Commons-logo.svg
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
LOT


v • d • e
Members of Star Alliance
v • d • e
Members of the Association of European Airlines
v • d • e
Airlines of Poland

Aerogryf · Air Italy Polska · Air Polonia · Centralwings · Direct Fly · EuroLOT · GetJet · LOT Polish Airlines · Prima Charter (ex-Fischer Air Polska) · Silesian Air · White Eagle Aviation · Wizz Air

Image:Flag of Poland.svg
v • d • e
Lists relating to aviation
GeneralTimeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines
MilitaryAir forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft
Notable incidents and accidentsMilitary aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths
RecordsFlight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft
ca:LOT Polish Airlines

da:LOT (flyselskab) de:Polskie Linie Lotnicze el:LOT Πολωνικές Αερογραμμές es:LOT Polish Airlines fr:LOT Polish Airlines id:LOT Polish Airlines he:לוט פוליש איירליינס lt:LOT nl:LOT Polish Airlines ja:LOTポーランド航空 no:LOT Polish Airlines nn:LOT Polish Airlines pl:Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT pt:LOT Polish Airlines ro:Polskie Linie Lotnicze ru:LOT (авиакомпания) sr:ЛОТ пољске авио линије fi:Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT sv:LOT Polish Airlines

Retrieved from "http://india.smashits.com/wikipedia/LOT_Polish_Airlines"
Views
Personal tools

Toolbox