LOT Polish Airlines will not be taking up its two Boeing 787 aircraft that are currently in the Mojave Desert in the United States. The airline does not believe it will need them any time soon, and, even if it picked them up, it would probably have to store them itself.
LOT does not want its two 787s
The national airline and flag carrier of Poland, LOT Polish Airlines, has decided it would not be picking up the two Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft that are parked in the Mojave Desert in the United States and waiting to be delivered.
The reason for this is that the long-haul market out of and into Europe continues to be deeply affected by the ongoing travel restrictions.
At the same time, the short-haul market, particularly for flights within the European Union, continues to recover rapidly. Leisure demand is seeing a considerable rebound, thanks largely to the European Union’s Green Pass that has facilitated a straightforward loosening of travel restrictions and a border policy that is easy to understand.
Speaking to Rzeczpospolita, Maciej Wilk, LOT’s board member responsible for operational activities, explained the airline’s decision as follows (translated):
“While the traffic inside Europe is starting to recover, we can still see a very deep breakdown in the segment of intercontinental flights. The opening of the United States is a good signal, but we must remember that, on the other hand, we have a closed Asian market, which is of key importance to LOT. Therefore, we must be flexible about the management of the fleet of long-haul aircraft, and due to the fact that the manufacturer delayed the delivery, we took the option of withdrawing from the collection of the two remaining Boeing 787 aircraft.”
How many 787s are now in LOT’s fleet?
LOT Polish Airlines now has 15 Boeing 787 aircraft, but three of them are parked in Rzeszów Airport (RZE) in Poland because LOT is yet to resume flights to its long-haul destinations in Japan, China, Korea, Sri Linka, and India.
If LOT Polish were to pick up the two 787s that are still in the Mojave Desert, it would probably immediately store them in Rzeszów as well. By not taking up the two aircraft, LOT is saving on lease installment payments.
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LOT is not happy with Boeing right now
As Simple Flying reported earlier this month, LOT Polish Airlines and Boeing are not on great terms right now.
The airline did not receive any compensation for the grounding of the 737 MAX 8 aircraft from Boeing, which LOT was reliant on for its rapid expansion strategy.
Furthermore, the Boeing 787s are having ongoing issues which have caused operational difficulties for LOT Polish Airlines. These difficulties included the delay of a new long-haul route launch to China.
As a result of the issues with both the 737s and the 787s, LOT is now actively thinking of purchasing Airbus aircraft.
What do you think of the news that LOT Polish Airlines will not be picking up its two Boeing 787s stored in Mojave? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.