LOT Polish Airlines (LO, Warsaw Chopin) Chief Executive Officer, Rafal Milczarski, says the carrier is planning to upgrade its narrowbody fleet in order to better compete with budget airlines that have now managed to dominate the Polish and Eastern European markets.
In an interview with Reuters, Milczarski said LOT's existing fleet of three B737-400s, ten Dash 8-400s, six E170LRs, fourteen E175s, and six E190LRs had left it unable to compete with the likes of Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) and Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) whose use of larger B737-800s and A320/A321s respectively on busy trunk routes, gave them significant unit cost advantages.
As such, there was now added impetus to grow both its domestic and regional European operations with talks having already taken place with lessors about possible options.
"A decision will be taken very shortly and the aircraft will arrive in our fleet in the first quarter of 2017," the CEO said, adding that LOT wants to double or triple the size of its narrowbody fleet.
LOT also operates six B787-8s with a further two due from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) next year.
