LOT Polish Airlines (LO, Warsaw Chopin) has added its maiden B737-8 with SP-LVA (msn 64067) positioning from Seattle Boeing Field via Reykjavik Keflavik to Warsaw Chopin on December 2.
The Polish flag carrier became the thirteenth airline globally to take delivery of a B737 MAX 8 and plans to receive another one of the type by the end of the year. Two further aircraft will join LOT's fleet in 2018 and two more in 2019.
The new aircraft will start commercial service on December 4 on the route to London Heathrow, according to the ch-aviation schedules module. It will also operate a single flight to Amsterdam Schiphol on December 6. LOT plans to start using B737 MAX 8s on routes to Madrid Barajas and Larnaca from January 1, 2018. In the spring the airline plans to use the type on routes to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion from Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan Lawica, Wroclaw and Lublin.
All ot LOT's MAX aircraft will be leased from Air Lease Corporation and are powered by CFM International LEAP-1B engines.
The aircraft in LOT's configuration can seat up to 186 passengers in a single-class layout.
CEO Rafal Milczarski said during the press conference that LOT wants to increase its fleet of B737 MAX 8s to at least fifteen jets in the coming years. The carrier also uses three B737-400s and four B737-800s. According to ch-aviation sources at the Polish carrier, in 2018 the B737-400s will be used as back-up capacity and not scheduled for regular operations.
