Profit up for Polish airline LOT
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
05.09.2017 12:14
Poland’s state-controlled airline LOT says profits from its core business have shot up under an ambitious new business strategy.
A Boeing 787-8 plane in LOT Polish Airlines livery. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Adrian Pingstone/Public Domain
In the first seven months of this year, the carrier earned more than PLN 150 million (EUR 35.4 million, USD 42 million) from its core business of transporting passengers, PLN 63 million more than in the same period last year, according to CEO Rafał Milczarski.
LOT is shooting for a PLN 300 million net profit at the end of the year, Milczarski told Poland’s PAP news agency.
Since the beginning of last year, LOT has been carrying out a new business strategy that involves launching new flights and boosting revenue while "keeping an eye on every penny spent," Milczarski said.
The company’s strategy is producing results by ensuring dynamic development for LOT and improving its financial liquidity and profitability, he added.
LOT wants to increase its share of the Polish market to at least 25 percent by 2020, from 22 percent today, according to Milczarski.
Since the beginning of 2016, the airline has launched 41 new flights, including new long-haul destinations such as Los Angeles, Tokyo and Seoul.
It plans to follow up with more new long-distance flights soon, according to Milczarski.
From January to the end of July, LOT flew 3.7 million passengers, 23 percent more than in the first seven months of 2016, Milczarski told PAP.
The airline expects to fly a total of 6.6 million passengers this year, up from 5.5 million last year and 4.3 million in 2015. (gs/pk)
Source: PAP