Airline Profile: LOT Polish Airlines

The Facts:

Analysis:

4 Things You Need To Know About LOT

• LOT’s fleet is quite varied, as they operate 14 different types of aircraft (I am counting sub-types of aircraft as different). These include the Embraer E-Jet Series, which is the largest aircraft series type that they have – they actually are the only airline to operate all four original types of the Embraer E Jet series – the E170, E175, E190, and the E195. They also operate the Bombardier Q400, the CRJ-700, and the CRJ900, the latter two which are operated by Nordica. Additionally, LOT has a relatively small fleet of Boeing 737s which are used for the higher capacity and longer range flights within Europe, which include the Boeing 737-400, the 737-800, and the 737 MAX 8, which of course is currently grounded. LOT also operates a fleet of Boeing 787s (both the -8 and -9 variants) which it uses on all of its long-haul flights. LOT also currently leases two Airbus A340-300s from Air Belgium (ex-Finnair aircraft), although they will be returned this winter.
• LOT’s main hub (as you may have guessed) is at Warsaw Chopin Airport, in Poland, which is where they operate the majority of their flights out of. LOT flies to numerous destinations around (mostly eastern) Europe, in addition to operating flights to Asia, the Middle East, and North America. LOT has quite an extensive route network to North America, considering that it flies from Warsaw to New York JFK, Newark, Miami, Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, and as of next summer, San Francisco. They also operate currently to five destinations in Asia, including to New Delhi, Beijing Capital Airport, Tokyo Narita, Seoul Incheon, and Singapore, along with initiating service to Beijing Daxing Airport and Colombo next year.
• While the majority of LOT’s flights originate in Warsaw, they also operate long-haul flights out of three other destinations; two in Poland and one in Hungary. Specifically Krakow to Chicago O’Hare and (next summer) to New York JFK, and from Rzeszow to Newark (seasonally). Additionally, LOT has been building up a second hub in Budapest, Hungary, which makes sense given that their flag carrier Malev ceased operations in 2012. They currently fly to a few of major destinations in Europe from their Budapest hub, along with Dreamliner flights to New York JFK and Seoul Incheon.
• LOT operates two lounges at Warsaw Chopin International Airport, one for domestic and Schengen flights, and one for flights outside of the Schengen zone. The lounges offer free WiFI, snacks and meals, and a business center. Lounge access is granted for all business class passengers, Star Alliance Gold passengers and above, and for passengers seated in premium economy for a fee.

Travel Classes

Economy Class

Economy class is in a 2-2 configuration on all Q400s, CRJ-700/900s, and Embraer E-Jet series aircraft, in a 3-3 configuration on all Boeing 737s, and in a 3-3-3 configuration on all Boeing 787s. Personal on-demand entertainment with movies and TV shows is available on all Boeing 787 aircraft, although no entertainment of any sort is available on its short-haul aircraft. USB ports and power outlets are available on all Boeing 787s, while only USB ports can be found on most Boeing 737s. Unfortunately, LOT hasn’t outfitted any aircraft with WiFi, so don’t expect to stay connected onboard. On their 787s, LOT has a pretty good seat pitch in economy class of 32 inches, while most of their short-haul aircraft have a seat pitch of 30 inches.

On their short-haul flights, besides domestic flights, LOT offers a pretty good buy on-board menu, with options such as sandwiches, croissants, along with warm options such as bolognese, which have pretty reasonable prices (sandwiches are about $2.50 while warm meals go for up to $7.00). LOT also offers free full (standard economy class style) meals on all long-haul flights on their Dreamliners, along with their 737 flights to Nur-Sultan and Beirut. Passengers on most economy class tickets are entitled to one 23kg (50lbs) bag on most flights within Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America, while saver fares don’t get free luggage on short-haul flights (only on long-haul flights and to Nur-Sultan). LOT also has a couple of other more complicated luggage rules, so see the link here fore a full baggage chart.

Premium Economy

Premium economy is found on all of LOT’s Boeing 787s, along with on all of their 737s and most of their Embraer E-Jet series aircraft. On their short-haul flights (premium economy is not sold on domestic flights), there isn’t any difference in terms of the seats besides that premium economy offers 2-3 extra inches of legroom – similar to economy plus. On short-haul flights, passengers can expect free cold meals on all non-domestic flights less than three hours, and warm economy class style meals on all flights over three hours, along with their flights to London, Nice, Paris, Moscow, Nur-Sultan, Beirut, Brussels, and Istanbul. LOT however offers a full premium economy experience on all of their Boeing 787s, which is in a 2-3-2 configuration and offers some of the best recliner seats on the market for premium economy which also have leg rests and foot rests along with extra width and recline. On long-haul flights, LOT also offers in-flight entertainment screens with movies and TV shows (although surprisingly it is in the armrest for all seats), USB ports, and three-course meals better than those in economy class.

On long-haul flights, LOT also offers in-flight entertainment screens with movies and TV shows (although surprisingly it is in the armrest for all seats), USB ports, pillows and blankets, and three-course meals better than those in economy class. Premium economy passengers also are entitled to fast track security, premium check-in and priority boarding on all flights. LOT premium economy passengers are also entitled to extra luggage, as they can check two 23kg (50lbs) bags on all flights. Finally, premium economy passengers can also pay to have access to the LOT lounges at Warsaw for PLN 120 or about $30, which is pretty reasonable, compared to fees on US airlines.

Business Class

Business class is featured on all mainline LOT aircraft. On short-haul flights, LOT uses a normal intra-European business class product. That means that on short-haul business class consists of standard economy class seats with the middle seat blocked, along with 34 to 38 inches of legroom, which is pretty good, considering other airlines such as Lufthansa offer the same legroom as economy class in business class. Because of this, I would probably not recommend buying or using extra miles for business class solely on a short-haul flight as you really won’t get much more comfort in business class than in economy class. On short-haul flights, cold snacks are served on all flights less than three hours long, while multi-course full meals are served on all flights longer than three hours and flights to London, Nice, Paris, Moscow, Nur-Sultan, Beirut, Brussels, and Istanbul.

On all Boeing 787 Dreamliners (both the -8 and -9 variant), LOT uses a very basic version of the Safran Aura, which is in a 2-2-2 configuration. The seats are fully flat (180 degrees) and are perfectly fine seats, however, they don’t offer much privacy (no privacy dividers), limited storage, and the privilege of stepping over your neighbor to use the lavatory if you are seated in a window seat. However, the seats also don’t have restrictive footwells, which is a common complaint in similar seats such as the Collins Diamond, which improves sleeping conditions. The seats are extremely similar to the seats on Turkish Airlines’ 777s and A330s, Air China’s A330s, China Southern’s A330s, Ethiopian Airlines’ 777s, or Kenya Airways’ 787s. Business class passengers are provided with a pillow, blanket, bed sheet, and an amenity kit. Business class passengers are also entitled to three 32kg (70lbs) bags on all flights.

Have you ever flown on LOT Polish Airlines? Share your experience below in the comments section!