The 50th anniversary of LOT's first nonstop flight to America is being commemorated with a stronger commitment to the transatlantic market.
On May 17, 1972, a long-range Ilyushin Il-62 operated by LOT made its first flight from Poland to the United States, landing in Chicago.
LOT's North American flight schedule would soon expand to cover New York and Toronto in addition to the Windy City.
Amazingly, LOT gave the sizable Polish populations in those three cities a direct line to their homeland even at the height of the Cold War.
However, after political upheaval and the declaration of martial law in Poland in the early 1980s, those flights were later momentarily halted.
In 2022, LOT's North American network has expanded to include Toronto in Canada as well as New York, Newark, Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles in the United States.
Additionally, LOT developed its transatlantic network both domestically and on the American side.
In addition to its primary hub at Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW), Krakow, Poland's second-largest city, also serves as a departure point for flights to the United States.
Flights also depart from Rzeszow in eastern Poland throughout the summer.
Recent media attention has been drawn to Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport (RZE) since it has grown to be a significant transit hub for migrants as well as for humanitarian and military aid headed to Ukraine.
According to Krzysztof Moczulski, a LOT official, "We're also flying from Krakow to Newark and Chicago and from Rzeszow to Newark due to great demand from the substantial Polish community."
He discussed the airline's long-haul program and how it was revived after a protracted pandemic break.
Due to the fact that many members of the Polish-American community have roots in the southern parts of the nation, Krakow and Rzeszow were chosen as new locations for the U.S. network.
Prior to the start of the conflict in February of last year, LOT was also receiving a sizable amount of traffic from the nearby western Ukraine.
Long-haul flights are conducted by LOT's fleet of 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners (composed of eight B787-8s and seven B787-9s).
18 business class seats, 21 premium economy class seats, and 213 economy class seats are all included in the three-class, 252-seat B787-8 cabin, which was installed on the aircraft that LOT served as the launch operator for in Europe.
The larger B787-9s feature 294 seats, similarly in a three-class configuration, with 24 seats in business class, 21 seats in premium economy, and 249 seats in economy.
LOT began operating flights from Warsaw to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Dulles International Airport (IAD) prior to the COVID-19 epidemic, but those flimsy lines were terminated before they had a chance to converge.
They were abandoned soon after they were introduced because the entire planet was going into lock down.
Even if they haven't been reinstated yet, this could change soon.
Moczulski clarified, "We're now concentrating on rebuilding traffic on our main lines, but we're also considering potential choices in the S23 season.
Not just this expansion project is still recovering from the pandemic.
By establishing a satellite hub at Budapest Airport (BUD), which had been without a locally based full-service carrier since Malev's demise in 2010, LOT sought to grow outside of Poland in 2018 and 2019.
A dozen routes were to be launched from the Hungarian capital as part of the proposal.
Some of them were within Europe, but others were to airports in Chicago, Seoul, and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), O'Hare International Airport (ORD), and New York (ICN).
In order to achieve this, LOT even based three Embraer E195 and one Dreamliner in Budapest.
Only New York and Seoul, along with a connection to the airline's main hub in Warsaw, are still part of LOT's Budapest network three years and a pandemic later.
There hasn't been any sign that LOT intends to restart its Budapest hub anytime soon, but at the very least, the connections to New York and Seoul will continue.
According to the airline's representative, there are currently no intentions to reduce capacity on those two routes.
In addition to being interested in North America, LOT has its sights set on the Middle East and Asia.
Geopolitical developments in Poland's near region, however, might limit this eastern expansion.
As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing airspace closures, in addition to the previously existing prohibition on Belarusian overflights, LOT and all other European airlines are no longer permitted to fly over the majority of the airspace east of Poland.
In addition to Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO) in Moscow and Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia, LOT also operated flights to five Ukrainian airports: Danylo Halytskyi International Airport (LWO) in Lviv, Boryspil International Airport (KBP) and Sikorsky International Airport (IEV) in Kyiv, Odesa International Airport (ODS), Zaporizhia International Airport (OZH), and Kharki
All have been ceased now.
Now, flights from Poland to Asia must make a lengthy detour to the south, lengthening each cycle by five to six hours.
This hasn't stopped LOT, who continues to fly from Warsaw to Tokyo, Seoul, Tianjin, China, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, Delhi, India, Mumbai, Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Dubai in addition to the previously noted connection between Budapest and Seoul.
When mentioning that travelers can connect to LOT's extensive European network in Warsaw, Moczulski said, "Our long-haul network is also fed by flights from Central and Eastern Europe region — thanks to the good minimum connection time and convenient size of Warsaw's airport this is a very good option to cross the pond."
Through the Miles & More program as well as loyalty programs run by the Star Alliance, of which LOT is a part, travelers can accrue and use miles on LOT.
There are now a lot of business-class awards available.
Here is a list of the routes that LOT will be operating this summer to North American locations along with the associated frequency.
By way of Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW):
Destination Every week
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) 11
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) 5
O’Hare International Airport (ORD) 10
Miami International Airport (MIA) 3
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) 7
Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) 12
By way of Krakow Airport (KRK)
Destination Every week
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) 1
O’Hare International Airport (ORD) 4
By way of Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport (RZE):
Destination Every week
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) 1
By way of Budapest Airport (BUD):
Destination Every week
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) 3
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