NEWS FLASH
LOT Polish Airlines has commenced a new seasonal service between Warsaw and Pristina this week, with the carrier now serving all the markets in the former Yugoslavia. Operations between the two cities will run four times per week, each Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, until September 29. Flights are being maintained by the 112-seat Embraer E195 aircraft. ”These flights are not only for people who travel between Warsaw and Pristina and vice versa, but we also offer the people of Kosovo a wide network of destinations in Western, Northern and Eastern Europe, as well as the United States and Canada. Our inaugural flight was a busy one and a good sign for the future. I am also sure that many Poles will choose Pristina as a holiday destination this year and in the years to come”, LOT spokesperson, Krzysztof Moczulski, said.
I'm booked on the flight and they are always using e70/75 not e95s
ReplyDeleteHave you travelled on the first flight?
DeleteI have watched yesterday's flights on flightradar24.com, it seems on both legs the aircraft avoided Serbian airspace to due ongoing dispute about status of Kosovo.
ReplyDeleteThat’s been the case for all airlines, nothing specific to Lot.
DeleteAlso, another record breaking month for PRN. May 2022 passenger figures are out.
ReplyDeleteMay 2022: 257,770 pax
Up 90.82% on May 2021
May 2022: 1,862 flights
Up 61.91% on May 2021
I don't have May 2019 figures to hand.
Managed to locate May 2019 PRN pax figure:
DeleteMay 2019: 181.931 pax
May 2022: 257,770 pax up 41.68 on May 2019.
Jan-May 2022: 1,065,119 pax.
That's some 40% growth compared to 2019. Excellent results!!
DeleteA very warm welcome to LOT Polish Airlines to PRN. I am not sure I will be able to utilise this route during the summer unless the route operates year-around, however I have family and friends from the Baltics that will use this route and I look forward to their feedback.
ReplyDeleteTheir VNO-LCY route is excellent and I have used it several times, although truth be told, I prefer airBaltic as an airline. Both are very good though.
Bravo PRN!!!
ReplyDeleteSo basically, this is the second airline after TK I can think of that has 100% coverage to all Balkan capitals - from LJU to ATH. PRN will work out pretty good because they have a good US coverage as well.
ReplyDeleteLOT does not fly to ATH
DeleteLOT does not fly to IAD and a significant number of US-bound passengers fly there. That’s the only gap that will have an impact on LOT’s connecting passengers out of PRN, otherwise I think they are well-positioned to carve out a slice of the market.
DeleteWith only four weekly WAW-PRN-WAW connections will be limited. I checked in flighradar as of now.
DeletePRN-WAW connects with approx. 1 hour connection time to JFK (Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat), LAX (only Thu), ORD (Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat), YYZ (Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat). And with less than two hour connection time to EWR (only Thu).
The following connect onto WAW-PRN with approx. 1 hour connection time: JFK-WAW (Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat), ORD-WAW (only Thu), YYZ-WAW (Mon, Sat).
So clearly steared for JFK.
I have a flight in July, PRN-WAW-OSL, with only 1 hour connection time, and I called LOT to be sure that it is enough time, they said it's more than enough. I wonder how the transfer gonna be in WAW, if they got any fast-track for transfer travelers?
DeleteHej 17:46, WAW is a pretty cool and modern airport. You should not have any issues transferring. Their service is not Emirates, but still very good although I personally dislike the 787 as a traveller and prefer 100 times, the 777 or 330 to an extent.
DeleteAnon 14:13 - 4 weekly initial service is awesome given the fact the current chaos in Holland and UK for instance. What do you mean by "only"?
If I were in PRN and had to fly to JFK would definitely choose LOT because of the price, good fleet and smooth transfer via Chopin Airport.
First-hand report on transfer at WAW: landed 20 minutes ahead the schedule, parked at remote stand - 15 minutes to reach the terminal by bus + 5 minutes passport control + 20 minutes to pass security. So yeah, 1 hour transfer seems doable.
DeleteI was on the first WAW-PRN flight on June 6th - it was nearly full, departed 35 minutes late but still landed (almost) on time. Passport control at PRN was quick even with the special treatment I received as a lucky holder of the Russian passport.
ReplyDeleteCould you explain your special treatment more in detail ?
DeleteAre Russians free to enter the EU ?
21:19, Kosovo is not in EU
DeleteRussians need a visa to Kosovo, but I hold EU residence permit and thanks to it can enter w/o a visa. Officer on passport control stamped me in and immediately called another man who took me to a separate room where he took a copy of my passport / residence permit and had me fill in a paper with questions like "where are you staying in Kosovo", "do you know anyone there" etc. After that I was let in.
DeleteFlying back to WAW today - curious what the plane load factor will be. On the first ever flight the public was all kinds - Poles dressed like they are going to hike in the mountains, Americans (with cowboy hats, no kidding), even some Albanians.
DeleteLO588 today (June 9th) had 39 passengers, ~20 of them some kind of military looking Polish men.
DeleteI don't believe LOT will keep on flying on this route for long.
My family and I fly regularly with Austrian from AMS to PRN. This July we will be flying to PRN with LOT, for the first time flying with them. Pretty excited but also stressing out about the current situation at AMS. Hope to get through on time, it’s really a mess..
ReplyDeleteIs there any (substantial) demand for O&D on this route, or is it all transfers?
ReplyDeleteProbably mostly transfer..
Delete