Andrzej Jeziorski/WARSAW
LOT Polish Airlines is planning to lease a freighter for the next winter season in a move towards expanding its cargo operation.
The airline's cargo division says that it is looking for a long haul freighter with a payload of around 40t, such as a McDonnell Douglas DC-8 or DC-10. No particular type has been selected, and the choice will depend on the terms offered, says the division.
The aircraft will be used to serve the North American market, where demand for cargo capacity regularly increases in the winter. LOT also has its eye on a cargo service between Warsaw and Seoul, South Korea.
Since setting up its cargo and mail office in 1995, the airline has set targets of maintaining at least 10% annual growth in cargo income and at least 50% of the Polish market. Cargo now accounts for some 8-9% of business.
"Looking at the growth in cargo transport in 1997, we realised that we have reached the limits of our capabilities," says LOT cargo director Wojciech Znyk. He adds that the airline is meeting capacity shortages on some routes.
LOT says that it considered and rejected using combi aircraft types, including the Boeing MD-11, to allow the cargo operation to expand. In the longer term, the carrier will consider obtaining its own dedicated cargo fleet, but this is unlikely to happen until early in the next decade.
LOT regional subsidiary Euro LOT has signed an agreement with Szczecin-based regional carrier Tasawi, under which the smaller airline will fly one of its two 19-seat British Aerospace Jetstream 31 turboprops on behalf of Euro LOT.
The aircraft will be used on new domestic routes linking regional airports, which the airline hopes to announce in early April.
Source: Flight International
