LOT tipped for Budapest - Zagreb service
LOT Polish Airlines is believed to be considering flights between Budapest and Zagreb as it attempts to build a hub in the Hungarian capital. According to Poland's "Pasazer" portal, the airline is also likely to introduce, as previously reported, services to Belgrade, Seoul, Prague and Sofia, in addition to the previously scheduled Brussels and Bucharest. LOT will hold a press conference in Budapest on Wednesday where it is expected to announce its network expansion. The new routes are set to launch in September. LOT will become one of the main hub airlines at Budapest Airport, with the investment also opening new connection opportunities for other European markets, which in turn will advance passenger flows through Budapest.
The launch of the potential new service would mark the resumption of flights between Budapest and Zagreb after five years. Qatar Airways previously maintained services between Doha and the Croatian capital via Budapest with fifth freedom rights to sell tickets between Hungary and Zagreb. The former Hungarian national carrier Malev maintained up to eighteen weekly flights between the two cities prior to its demise in 2012. LOT is ultimately targeting business passengers wanting to travel between European capital cities, as well as vital onward connections, including the carrier’s pivotal long haul routes from Budapest to New York and Chicago. LOT currently serves Zagreb from Warsaw twice per day.
Wizz Air, which is Budapest's busiest airline and has received subsidies to maintain services from Budapest to a number of capital city airports in the former Yugoslavia, warned last week of LOT's financial state and noted it is ready to rescue passengers should the Polish carrier collapse. LOT's CEO, Rafał Milczarski, responded by saying, "The information provided by Mr Jozsef Varadi [Wizz Air CEO] concerning alleged problems at LOT Polish Airlines is very out of date, as it was relevant four years ago. LOT is the most dynamically growing airline in Europe, which, in the last four years, has profitably increased its number of destinations from 41 to 111".
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