LOT's new budget carrier Centralwings plans to start scheduled services on 1 February with a route network comprising 11 destinations from three Polish cities using Boeing 737-300/400s transferred from its parent.
Its main base of operations will be Warsaw Okecie airport, from where it will operate to 10 destinations: Bologna, Catania, Gerona, Hanover, Lisbon, London Gatwick, Malta, Nuremberg, Prague and Rome Ciampino.
But Centralwings will also operate from Krakow to London Gatwick and Rome Ciampino, and Katowice to Cologne and Hanover.
The carrier's first services will launch on the Warsaw-London and Krakow-London routes on 1 February. A third route, Warsaw-Hanover, will start on 28 February and the remainder will be phased in during the 2005 summer season, which begins at the end of March. Initial fares will be set at around l45 zlotys ($14).
The airline has already been allocated two 737s from LOT, with a third to be transferred in February and two more in May. It plans to expand its fleet to around 15 aircraft by 2010. Its aircraft will carry a red-and-white livery with a logo depicting a bird in flight.
"We want to bring the world closer to those people who want to reach their destinations in a cheap, reliable and friendly way," says Centralwings president Piotr Kociolek.
Staff for the airline are also being transferred from LOT, although there has been an issue with LOT's pilot union appealing to members not to work for new airline. It is afraid that after transferring to Centralwings, where there may not be a trade union, pilots will lose some privileges.
Centralwings' original capital of €240,000 ($320,000) has been increased following the collapse of Poland's established low-fare airline Air Polonia this month. Centralwings plans to carry 800,000 passengers in its first year, and is expected to become profitable in 2007.
As well as scheduled flights, the new carrier plans to serve charter routes to locations in Bulgaria, Egypt and the Mediterranean. Charter services will operate from other cities in Poland such as Wroclaw and Poznan.
DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW / LONDON
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY BARTEK GLOWACKI IN WARSAW.
Source: Flight International
