LOT Polish Airlines will suspend four routes during its winter timetable, cutting services between Warsaw and Bologna and from Kraków to Barcelona, Madrid and Rome. The changes are due to take effect by the end of October and are expected to remain until the summer schedule begins in early April, while frequencies on some other routes will also be reduced.
The suspensions follow a profitability review of LOT’s network. Higher jet-fuel prices were identified as a major factor, with fuel accounting for about 25% of the airline’s total costs in February and potentially as much as 40% currently. Intense competition in Central Europe is also limiting LOT’s ability to raise fares sufficiently to offset higher operating costs.
The airline has described the changes as a targeted review of less profitable individual rotations rather than a broad network contraction. It has not disclosed the full list of routes subject to frequency reductions. Global jet-fuel prices were almost 114% higher in mid-October than a year earlier, according to IATA data cited in Polish media. LOT expects the suspended services to return with the summer timetable, although exact restoration dates have not been specified.