LOT withdraws from all EX-YU markets until March
LOT Polish Airlines will suspend its last remaining service in the region - to Zagreb - next month, marking its complete withdrawal from the former Yugoslavia until March 2021 at the earliest. The carrier will temporarily cancel flights between Warsaw and the Croatian capital from January 13 until March 1, when four weekly flights will be restored. The decision comes amid a continuing decline in demand, resulting from travel restrictions, as well steep fall in transfer traffic, which LOT relies on. Flights to Dubrovnik, which LOT maintained on a year-round basis in 2019, have been suspended for several months and are not due to resume until the start of the 2021 summer season on March 28.
Poland has temporarily banned flights to Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, preventing LOT from operating flights. Services to Belgrade were maintained since October but were discontinued in late November due to flight restrictions. The service is now scheduled to resume four times per week from March 1. Services to the Macedonian and Montenegrin capitals have not operated since mid-March. Flights to Podgorica are set to be restored on March 28, with six weekly rotations, while services to Skopje will resume a day later, on March 29, with five weekly flights. Over 60% of LOT’s passengers on these routes connected through Warsaw to other destinations, mostly the United States and Canada. Despite plans to restore flights between Warsaw and Ljubljana, the Polish carrier has continuously delayed the resumption date and has now scheduled its return for March 2, after which it plans to run four weekly rotations between the two capital cities.
LOT, like other airlines across the world, has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. European regulators cleared the Polish government’s plan yesterday to provide its flag carrier with around 650 million euros in financial support. The support consists of a subsidised loan worth 400 million euros and a capital injection of around 250 million euros. LOT resumed international flights on July 1, much later than most of its other major European competitors. The significant drop in travel demand continues to deteriorate the airline’s financial situation, which is currently facing the risk of default and insolvency. The aid measures intend to restore LOT’s equity and liquidity position.
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