Polish carrier LOT is to lease four Boeing 737-800s in the first half of next year as part of renewal plans disclosed today which will also see it taking six 737 Max 8s from Air Lease.
In a statement detailing its fleet renewal plans, LOT says it will lease four 737-800s due for delivery in April as the first plan of its fleet renewal plans. The aircraft will be leased from AerCap.
“Restocking the narrowbody fleet was our greatest challenge. Even though the new 737 Max 8s will be supplied in record time, we need planes already for the coming summer season," says LOT chief executive Rafal Milczarski.
"Thanks to attractive lease terms of four Boeing 737-800NGs, we can quickly make up for time lost, increasing the number of flights on some of the most popular routes and launching new flights, for example, to central Asia. Thanks to those aircraft we do have such an opportunity," he adds.
It also holds an option to convert these aircraft to Max 8s during the lifetime of the lease agreement.
The first two of the six 737 Max 8s to be leased from Air Lease will be delivered in November and December next year. Two more will follow in 2018 and one each in 2019 and 2020. LOT also holds options on leading five more 737 Max 8s, which Air Lease says must be confirmed by early 2017. The cover deliveries in 2019 and 2020.
LOT will configure all its new 737s in 186-seat layouts.
"Soon we will be able to offer our customers a completely new dimension of comfort onboard and an even broader network of connections," says Milczarski.
The order comes as the Polish carrier has resumed growth after caps attached to European Commission approval for its restructuring expired at the end of 2015. Alongside the six new 737s it will add next year, LOT is also taking delivery of two more 787s in 2017 which will increase its fleet to 51.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
