LOT Polish Airlines to Acquire 11 More Boeing 737-8s

DALLAS — The CEO of LOT Airlines (LO), Michał Fijoł, announced last week that by mid-2025, the Polish airline would acquire 11 new narrow-body Boeing 737-8 jets, of which it already has 11.

According to the CEO, the first deliveries will comprise three aircraft, scheduled to arrive between the start of the summer season, from the end of March to mid-2024. The remaining eight will be delivered by June 2025, and they will be in a slightly different configuration with new colors and seats.

The Boeing aircraft will be acquired through operating leases from leasing companies such as Aviation Capital Group (ACG), Air Lease Corporation (ALC), and McGuire. After the delivery of the new aircraft, LOT Airlines will have a fleet of 86 jets, provided that all currently operated aircraft continue to fly for the Polish carrier. Overall, the number of available seats on LO will increase by over 2,000, reaching 13,500.

In October 2022, LO announced it would acquire six more Boeing 737-8s on long-term lease from ALC. At the time, LO had five Boeing 737-8s and one 787-8 Dreamliner on lease from ALC. The new aircraft came from Blue Air (OB), the Romanian carrier that had suspended operations.

The progressive expansion of the fleet is one of the objectives of the LO strategy for 2024-2028. By the end of this period, the carrier aims to have approximately 110 aircraft with the crane logo on their tails, according to a pasazer.com report. At the same time, LO intends to repay the state aid received from the Polish government, as per the original schedule, by the end of 2027.

A Change of Tune

The CEO's remarks from last week contrast with the airline's stance against Boeing a year ago. In January 2023, LO, along with Smartwings (QS), leveled accusations against Boeing, blaming the American aircraft manufacturer for failing to meet their demands to reimburse losses caused by the Boeing 737 MAX worldwide flight ban in March 2019.

However, their legal challenges to be declared crime victims and receive compensation were turned down by the US District Court Judge Reed O'Connor, who also rejected similar bids from crash victims' beneficiaries.

To survive the crisis and fill the market gap left by the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the Polish carrier managed to expand its fleet by purchasing stored and retired aircraft from defunct airlines such as Jet Airways (9W) and Alitalia (AZ), which include three Embraer E-175s, four E-190s, five E-195s, and three Boeing 737-800s.

Featured image: LOT Polish Airlines SP-LVF Boeing 737-8 UKLL LWO. Photo: Oleh Yatskiv/Airways