WARSAW – LOT Polish Airlines has acquired yet another E-Jet – the 13th Embraer E175. This is also the 42nd Embraer in LOT’s fleet. The new aircraft arrived in Warsaw on Wednesday 5 October. The additional aircraft will increase LOT’s capacity while another Q400’s are returning to lessor.
Embraer (MSN17000334) carrying the SP-LIP registration, is leased from Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC). The plane was flown to Warsaw on October 5 evening. The repositioning domestic route of flight LO9002 was: Bydgoszcz (BZG) – Warsaw (WAW).
The E175 in question was produced in March 2012, at which time it was delivered to Alitalia Cityliner. Then, after being withdrawn by the Italian carrier, the aircraft was parked by NAC at Bydgoszcz Aiport from September 2021 to October 2022. LOT’s new acquisition takes 88 passengers on board. That is six people more than the carrier’s currently operated fleet of E175’s.
As it has been mentioned, LOT uses all versions of the popular E-Jets.
- Embraer E170 – first delivery 8 March 2004.
- Embraer E175 – first delivery 25 April 2006.
- Embraer E190 – first delivery 17 December 2018.
- Embraer E195 – first delivery 11 April 2011.
There are currently 77 aircraft in LOT’s fleet, including 42 Brazilian aircraft: six E170s, 13 E175s (including two at the government’s disposal), eight E190s and 15 E195s.
LOT sends RFP – new aircraft purchases coming soon
LOT Polish Airlines plans large purchase of narrow-body aircrafts and has sent a Request For Proposal (RFP) to three of the world’s biggest aircraft manufacturers: Airbus, Boeing and Embraer. Polish carrier wants to buy from 60 to 80 new aircrafts. When sending out the RFP, LOT divided the selection of the new fleet into three purchasing groups:
- Large capacity medium-haul aircraft. In this role, the airline sees Airbus A320neo/A321neo or Boeing 737 MAX 8 / 737 MAX 9;
- Medium-haul aircraft with medium capacity. In this role the airline puts together the Airbus A220-300 and the Embraer E195-E2;
- Small medium-haul aircraft. Here, LOT sees a pair of Airbus A220-100 and Embraer E190-E2.
The decision regarding new aircraft should be made in the coming months.
The process of phasing out the Dash 8-400 will last until 2023
The De Havilland Dash 8-400 continues to be a minor part of LOT fleet. Sixth of the twelve turboprop aircraft operated by the national carrier have already been retired from flying. More will leave LOT Polish Airlines’ fleet by the end of next year at the latest and they will be replaced by E190 and E195 Embraer E-Jets.
LOT to expand fleet with six 737 MAX 8s
It’s worth adding that LOT Polish Airlines is also expanding its fleet with six Boeing B737-8 MAX aircraft, which will operate short- and medium-haul flights. The carrier will take delivery of all the planes as early as mid-October this year. One of them will go to LOT straight from the Renton factory.
The new aircraft were acquired by LOT following the suspension of Romanian carrier Blue Air, in the form of an operating lease from US-based Air Lease Corporation, which had already leased five Boeing 737 MAX 8s and one Dreamliner for LOT. After the delivery of the sixth unit, the 737 MAX fleet will total 11 aircraft.
