Unofficial Polish sources are reporting that LOT Polish Airlines will acquire three Boeing 777s once operated by Singapore Airlines. This is to take place sometime in the next few months, says Polish website Pasazer.

The 777 largely replaced Singapore Airline's 747s. Photo: Singapore Airlines

No confirmation from airline

Pasazer.com made the discovery through its own sources. Apparently, the Polish flag carrier is training its crew on the aircraft type - a type that it currently does not have in its fleet. The news site further reports that these aircraft would come from Singapore Airlines.

Despite checking in with the airline, Pasazer received this response:

"At this time, LOT is not training its crews on any other type of long-haul aircraft than the Boeing 787. In the development phase, we are constantly monitoring the availability of various aircraft models on the market, and our experts are analyzing many aircraft. We do not comment on media speculations on this subject." -Michał Czernicki, LOT spokesperson.

We made our own inquiry and contacted LOT. This was the response we received:

"LOT Polish Airlines carried over 10 million passengers in 2019. This is a significant increase compared to 2015, when the national carrier invited 4.3 million people on board. Such dynamic growth requires constant investments, including fleet ones. Today, LOT has 15 long-haul aircraft - Boeing 787 Dreamliner in versions -8 and -9. This year we will pick up two more aircraft of this type." -LOT spokesperson

Singapore Airlines A350
Most of the previously laid off staff has joined the airline again. Photo: Getty Images

LOTs current situation

The acquisition of Boeing 777s would be a notable expansion for the airline. In fact, the largest aircraft the carrier currently has is the Boeing 787-9. There are seven in the fleet with two on order, according to the airline's website.

LOT's largest Dreamliner is configured with 24 business class, 21 premium economy, and 249 economy seats. If the 777 acquisition holds true, there is still ambiguity about the type - whether it's the smaller -200 or larger -300. Wider and slightly longer, the 777-200 is somewhat close to the 787-9 in terms of size and capacity. LOT also has 8 of the smaller 787-8.

While the LOT fleet has no Boeing 777s at the moment, it once used the aircraft in 2013. These aircraft were obtained from Portuguese airline EuroAtlantic Airways as a temporary replacement for its new Dreamliners - which were grounded due to problems with their lithium-ion batteries.

Currently, the Dreamliner is LOT's only widebody aircraft. The remainder are narrowbody - a mix of Boeing 737s, Embraer regional jets, and the Bombardier Q400 turboprop.

LOT Polish Airlines’ expansion plans

This speculation regarding more aircraft is also consistent with other LOT expansion news. Just last month we reported that the airline is set to wet-least four Airbus A320 aircraft. The carrier has reached an agreement with narrowbody ACMI operator Avion Express for the planes, which will begin in the new year. Expansion has been hampered by the grounding of the Boeing 737MAX. LOT has a total of 15 orders for the MAX 8 version of this aircraft. Overall, LOT Polish Airlines has grand plans to grow its presence. In fact, it has announced its ambition to become a rival to the airlines of the Middle East airlines. It will use a planned $10 billion USD airport, which will replace Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, as its base for international expansion. Furthermore, LOT has a number of new routes out of its Budapest hub. The airline will serve a number of European destinations from Budapest, including Belgrade, Brussels, Bucharest, Prague, Sofia and Stuttgart, as well as long-haul flights to Seoul, South Korea.
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LOT Polish Airlines flies its 787 between Budapest and Seoul. Photo: LOT Polish Airlines.

Conclusion

As this information has not been confirmed by the airline, we can only guess and speculate. However, with all of the news coming from LOT this year regarding growth and expansion, this news would certainly be consistent with what we know of the airline. We'll just have to wait and see if any official news comes out in the near future.

If the news is true, do you think it's a good move for the Polish airline? Or would you rather see it buy or lease other types of aircraft instead? Let us know by leaving a comment!