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Did the flight take? There is a contract with a giant. 'A choice that can create a gap'

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“Historical” – actually everyone specifies the contract, which was concluded by PLL FLIGHT with the French aircraft manufacturer, Airbus. Order placed by a Polish carrier, It provides 40 aircraft, but the option has been reserved for the possibility of expanding the delivery to another 44 machines. Thus, Airbus won the competition with the Brazilian carrier, the Embraer company, whose planes are already in the LOT fleet.

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Larger aircraft instead of smaller ones. Will they fill up?

– This is a strategic decision because these Airbus aircraft differ from smaller embraers. They have a completely different place in the Fleet structure. They change the rules of the game, they are larger, even in the smallest version they are larger than Embraers – explains Dominik Sipiński, an Insight policy expert for transport and infrastructure. Machines in the A220-100 and A220–300which are to be possessed by LOT's possession can accommodate from 100 to 160 passengers. Meanwhile, the largest Embraer E195-E2 can take 136 passengers on board. With the fact that The flight has only three such machines. The rest, i.e. 44 aircraft, houses largely less than 100 passengers.

– These are good planes from the point of view of the development of the connection network, because they give a larger development platform, they are simply larger. In the case of Embraers, this ceiling was lower, less developmental. This meant that the flight had to switch to narrow -hilly aircraft, or Boeingi 737 Max at some point – notes Dominik Sipiński. – on the other hand creates a certain gap on the side of the smallest aircraft. On many regional routes, e.g. to smaller cities in Romania or Ukraine, it is impossible to fill larger aircraft. Currently, LOT uses Embraers 170 and 175, which have 76 and 88 places, respectively, which is even half as much as Airbus A220-300, which will have about 150 places. Even smaller A220-100 will probably have about 120 places. The question is: how many small flight aircraft will need? On many routes, it is impossible to fill larger machines – he adds.

Instead of proven machines – something completely new

Importantly, LOT LOT currently has 86 aircraft in its fleet. These are only Embraer and Boeing machines. Airbus is something completely new. Before Polish The carrier is therefore a complicated process of adaptation to new machines. – This is not just about training crews, but about building the entire technical facilities: service base, mechanics, purchase of spare parts. The idea is to avoid a situation that is quite common when introducing new equipment that The plane will break down and there is no part for it – emphasizes the INSIGHT policy expert. He indicates that probably part of the contract was a declaration of support from the French carrier in this process. Anyway, it was reported in the official announcement that the agreement for $ 11 billion. It concerns: “aircraft, engines and service”.

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First, however, there will be a transition period, in which both A220 Airbus and Embraery will fly in the LOT network. Ultimately, however, the National Carrier plans to make the fleet only to the withdrawal of the older generation of regional machines. – It will be a demanding process, but I would not demonize him. Some changes were necessary anyway. It is also worth remembering that Airbus has an extensive production base in Poland, admittedly not these specific aircraft, but it is currently present here. This means that In some respects, this decision may support the development of the Polish aviation industrystaff, and maybe even Poland's political involvement in relations with the USA and the EU – says the expert.

LOT PLL will become a European leader?

Decision about selection Airbus is a more future -oriented decision. Michał Fijoł, president of the board of PLL LOT, said immediately after its announcement that the aircraft would allow the airline to “compete effectively on European heavenstrengthen the position of the preferred carrier of our part of Europe and prepare a flight for the role of a leading airline at the Central Communication Port. ” It will allow you to do more. Maybe not immediately, but in the perspective of five or ten years it is certainly possible to achieve more than, for example, with Embraers – He told us.



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