Avinor confirms LOT Polish Airlines’ move to join Oslo Airport with the introduction of a high-frequency connection to Warsaw, connecting two Star Alliance hubs from S18.
Set to commence next March, Avinor’s Oslo Airport will see its fifth connection to Poland as LOT Polish Airlines confirms a 13 times weekly service to its Warsaw Chopin hub. Operated by the Polish flag carrier’s three-class E195s with twice-daily flights (except Saturdays), the high-frequency service will ultimately target business passengers wanting to travel between the two capital cities.
The arrival of its latest airline on 25 March 2018 will further enhance Oslo’s Star Alliance credential as LOT becomes the gateway’s 10th Star Alliance carrier. While providing connections for Norwegian travellers on LOT’s extensive route network across Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Far East the new route makes numerous other global destinations available via the Star Alliance network. Polish-originating will also be able to access the SAS Star Alliance hub in Oslo for further connectivity on this city pair too.
"We’ve had a successful low-cost product on this route for some time and in welcoming LOT Polish Airlines to Oslo and introducing a full-service hub carrier on the sector, we can open up the city pair to a different market," explains Jasper Spruit, VP Traffic Development, Avinor. "We’re very proud of our Star Alliance carrier portfolio connecting Oslo to the world’s major hubs and the inclusion of our newest partner will serve as another engine for further growth across Avinor," added Spruit.
As LOT’s operation joins Norwegian’s existing six times weekly service to Warsaw, this latest announcement could see Poland become Oslo’s 12th largest country market next summer. The Eastern European country is a dynamic fast-growing market for Avinor which currently operates 19 routes between its airports and Poland – five from Bergen; four from Oslo and Stavanger; two from Trondheim; and one each from Alesund, Molde, Haugesund and Kristiansand. With Tromsø welcoming its first Polish link later this year, adding Gdansk from 16 December, this connection count will become 21 during S18.
