LOT Polish Airlines has suspended three of its destinations in the former Yugoslavia over the 2020/2021 winter season, which began today, until March 28, 2021. The carrier will not fly between its hub in Warsaw to Skopje, Podgorica and Dubrovnik. Services to the Macedonian and Montenegrin capitals have not operated since mid-March, while Dubrovnik was served during most of the summer. Flights between Warsaw and the Croatian coastal city were maintained on a year-round basis in 2019. Furthermore, LOT has extended the suspension of its Ljubljana service until December 1. Flights were initially to resume today. Further changes remain possible. 

The Polish carrier will continue to serve Zagreb and Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia over the coming months. Flights to the Croatian capital will run five times per week with the Embraer E175 jet, which has the capacity to seat 82 passengers, while services to Belgrade will operate four times per week with the same aircraft type. LOT, which relies on a notable number of transfer passengers on its routes from EX-YU markets, particularly to the United States and Canada, is, for the most part, unable to serve this segment due to entry restrictions. “I believe that the return of our hub-and-spoke model from 2019 will be possible in the summer of 2022”, LOT’s CEO, Rafal Milczarski, said. 

LOT expects to carry some three million passengers this year, down from over ten million in 2019. The carrier anticipates welcoming five million travellers on board its aircraft next year, including a million passengers on charter flights. “We have the instruments to survive. LOT will apply for state aid, just like any other airline in Europe. We need it and we hope to receive it before the end of the year. We will create a model that will optimise our costs and operations”, LOT’s CEO noted. Poland does not allow entry into its country from most nations outside the European Union.