LOT suspends some routes until April: Warsaw flights to Bologna are cancelled

Polish airline LOT is introducing its winter schedule and suspending some routes until April, carrier spokesman Krzysztof Moczulski said on Monday. He said the decision followed a profitability analysis that took into account, among other things, high fuel prices.

By the end of October LOT will suspend flights between Warsaw and Bologna. Flights from Krakow to Madrid, Rome and Barcelona will also be halted, and the frequency of selected routes will be reduced. The airline plans to restore the suspended routes in early April with the summer schedule.

According to Moczulski, in February fuel made up about 25% of all airline costs, while today its share may reach 40%. The second factor, he said, is strong competition in the Central European market, which limits the ability to raise prices. At the same time LOT is expanding its intercontinental network: a Bangkok route has opened, flights to Hanoi start at the end of March, and four Dreamliners will join the fleet by mid next year.

According to IATA, in mid-October global jet fuel prices were almost 114% higher than a year earlier. The sharp rise came at the turn of February and March after the start of the armed conflict in the Persian Gulf.