LOT Orders 40 Airbus A220 Jets in Record Deal to Boost Poland's Aviation Growth

A deal confirmed at the Paris Air Show represents quite a big strategic change for LOT, which has remained an Embraer and Boeing customer throughout. The fleet replacement comes as Poland's air travel market is enjoying record growth and the country is building a huge new airport hub to the southeast of Warsaw.

Airbus Slips by With Competitive Tender
The sale was worth between €4-5 billion for 20 of the smaller A220-100s and 20 of the larger A220-300s, which will be delivered starting in 2027. LOT CEO MichaÅ‚ FijoÅ‚ said the aeroplanes will establish the logistics as the new workhorse of the airline's regional fleet with better efficiency and passenger comfort.

Airbus was the winner in a competitive tender over Embraer, even though that company had strong technical ties to Poland. The A220 cuts a middle line when it comes to capacity and long range, and that suits LOT's expansion plans just fine as the aircraft can serve both city pairs with substantial distances as well as thinner, point-to-point geographies all over Europe.

"This is a strategic and historic milestone and we are thrilled with the opportunity to have PMEGP as our business partner," stated Benoit de Saint-Exupéry, Executive Vice President of Airbus. "The A220 is perfect for LOT and we are going to deploy it widely to our short and medium-haul fleet renewal and network expansion plans," he said.

Powering Poland's Aviation Upheaval
Poland has since become one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in Europe, with passenger numbers up 15.6 per cent in 2018 to a record 59.5 million. Regional airports, a number of which—such as in Krakow, GdaÅ„sk, Katowice and WrocÅ‚aw— have strong double-digit growth, handle nearly 9 million passengers each year, and Warsaw Chopin Airport transports over 21 million passengers a year.

The modernization of the LOT fleet is also in line with the Central Communication Port (CPK) project – a new, massive airport and transportation hub planned between Warsaw and Łódź. "These A220s will contribute to our new offer for passengers and we will be the country to this kind of regional hub," said Rafaĺ Milczarski, CEO of LOT.

Infrastructure Minister Dariusz Klimczak called the fleet deal "a turning point" for the country's transport infrastructure. "This investment is placing LOT and Poland as the leader in the aviation category worldwide," he said.