LOT Polish Airlines and Air Lease Corporation have announced a deal that will see the Polish flag carrier lease six Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from ALC on a long-term basis. This is the latest development in a strong working relationship that has already seen LOT take aircraft from two Boeing families from the LA-based lessor.
A strong working relationship
As reported in a statement issued yesterday by ALC, all six aircraft will be 737 MAX 8s, the smaller of the two variants that are currently certified for commercial usage. This reflects the makeup of LOT's existing 737 MAX fleet, which consists of five ALC-leased MAX 8 aircraft. LOT also leases one Boeing 787-8 from ALC.
As such, the deal for the Polish flag carrier to take six more 737 MAX 8s on long-term leases will see its portfolio of ALC aircraft double from six to 12 jets within a matter of weeks. Indeed, according to ALC, all six aircraft are scheduled to join LOT by the end of this month. This reflects a strong working relationship between the pair, with ALC's Executive Chairman, Steven F. Udvar-Házy, stating that:
"ALC has played an important role in the recent fleet modernization program of LOT since late 2017, and these six additional aircraft will support LOT’s network and development strategy."
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Boosting the fleet
The deal involving the six aircraft will subsequently result in LOT's Boeing 737 MAX 8 more than doubling in size, given that, as established, it currently has just five of the narrowbodies at its disposal. According to ch-aviation.com, these are 4.1 years old on average. This makes the MAX 8 LOT's second youngest aircraft type, only beaten by the 787-9's 3.8-year-old average age.
Two of LOT's initial batch of five Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft arrived at the carrier in December 2017. The next pair came onboard in June 2018, followed by the fifth and final example in December 2018. Each of them has 186 seats, allowing for different-sized business class cabins (whereby the middle seats are blocked off). Maciej Wilk, LOT Polish Airlines' Chief Operating Officer, stated that:
"LOT is in the process of selecting a new fleet in the regional and narrowbody segment. Until a supplier is selected, we are planning to source aircraft as a bridging solution. The first Embraer 175 and 190 have already joined LOT Polish Airlines' fleet, and will soon be followed by the Boeing 737 MAX 8. I am very pleased to see these reliable and economical aircraft completing our single-aisle fleet."
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Where does LOT fly its MAX aircraft?
In terms of the routes on which LOT deploys its existing Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, their most popular destination in each instance (apart from the carrier's Warsaw hub) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR).
Indeed RadarBox.com shows that each has been involved in more than 200 flights concerning the UK's busiest airport in the last year, per data generated four days ago. Other popular destinations include Antalya, Katowice, Tbilisi, and Tel Aviv.