Budapest, 27th November 2019 – In Summer 2020 LOT will add new holiday destinations to its growing flight network from Budapest. Starting from June, passengers will be able to fly directly from Hungary to Dubrovnik and Varna. But that’s not all. From May 6th, the number of frequencies between Budapest and Seoul will be increased to four per week. The additional frequency will ensure even more convenient flight schedule for passengers travelling between Hungary and South Korea both for leisure and in business.

From now on, passengers travelling from Budapest can choose new attractive destinations for their summer holidays. From June 7th, LOT will start operating to one of the most popular tourist destinations in Croatia - to Dubrovnik and to the popular Black Sea resort of Bulgaria – to Varna. Flights will be operated by comfortable Embraers once a week, according to the following schedule:

BUD-DBV 07:00-08:15 Sundays

DBV-BUD 08:55-10:10 Sundays

BUD-VAR 12:30-15:05 Sundays

VAR-BUD 15:45-16:20 Sundays

Furthermore, after just two months of operations, LOT has decided to extend the number of frequencies on its first regular Asian route from Budapest. Starting from May 6th, LOT’s Dreamliners will operate to Seoul four times a week.

Flights to the capital city of one of the Asian Tigers will be operated according to the following schedule:

BUD-ICN 12:25-06:05 (+1), Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays

ICN-BUD 07:40-13:25, Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays

- I’m very pleased to announce today new flights from Budapest to Dubrovnik and Varna coming this summer. We continuously expand our offer of flights from Hungary while building here LOT’s second hub. In a few months time, not only we will increase the number of frequencies on Budapest-New York route up to 7 flights per week – already in May, we will add another weekly frequency on our first route from Budapest to Asia. Launched in September this year, flights between Budapest and Seoul have been a huge success. Until today, the route have recorded an average load factor of 85%, which is the best evidence that passengers both from South Korea and Hungary recognize the convenience of the just started direct connections offered by LOT. I am sure that extended offer for oncoming summer will help our passengers to better plan their journeys - said Michał Fijoł, Chief Commercial Officer of LOT Polish Airlines.

Tourism and business potential between Budapest and Seoul is huge - the annual passenger traffic on that route reaches over 77,000 passengers while the overall annual number of passengers between the CEE region and Seoul exceeds 590,000. The new services will provide Korean passengers with additional opportunities to transfer to selected LOT flights operating out of Budapest: Prague and Warsaw in Summer 2020 and many more in the near future.

In the coming summer season, LOT also adjusts selected flights’ timelines. Due to Boeing 737 MAXs being still grounded and consequent lack of aircraft, LOT had to temporarily adjust frequencies on some of its short-haul flights between March 30th until May 26th 2020 (Stuttgart, Sofia, Bucharest will be lowered to 6 flights per week; Brussels – to 7 times per week). The flights to Prague and Belgrade will be launched on 27th May. Thus, in the summer season, passengers from Hungary will be able to fly in total to as many as 13 destinations.

- We have been constantly implementing our strategy of dual hub growth: both in Warsaw and in Budapest. At the same time, we continue to adjust our services to meet changing passenger needs. This is the proof of how much we actually value the market and our clients. In the summer peak we will be able to offer the full schedule of frequencies on all flights according to the highest LOT quality standards guaranteed by modern Dreamliners and comfortable Embraers operating in convenient schedules. We just have introduced a brand new business lounge at Budapest Airport and I would like to encourage passengers to take advantage of it before their journeys – adds Michał Fijoł.

In summer season, the number of flights operated by LOT from the capital of Hungary will total 13 – passengers will fly directly to Warsaw, Krakow, London City (LCY), Bucharest, Brussels, Stuttgart, Prague, Belgrade, Sofia, Dubrovnik and Varna as well as New York City (JFK) and Seoul Incheon (ICN). To operate its newly announced European flights, additional LOT’s Embraer 195s will be permanently based in Budapest. The carrier’s fleet base in Budapest will amount to four short-haul aircraft and two Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Currently, LOT’s cabin crew operating non-stop flights from Budapest totals 80 flight attendants and a dozen Hungarian pilots. LOT has also opened the first Star Alliance Gold business lounge operated by an airline at the Budapest Airport.
The expansion of flights from Budapest is part of the airline’s profitable growth strategy, which LOT Polish Airlines has been implementing since early 2016. As a result, over the recent three years LOT has become one of the fastest growing airlines in Europe, doubled its fleet size and launched over 70 new routes worldwide. The additional B787-9 Dreamliner has joined the fleet early November, increasing the total number of LOT wide-body aircraft to 15.

In 2018, LOT carried more than 8.9 million passengers aboard its flights, an increase of 2 million versus 2017. For 2019, it plans to welcome 10 million guests. LOT Polish Airlines is a fully integrated member of the Miles & More frequent flyer program and a member of Star Alliance since 2003.