Summary
Eurolot S.A. (previously styled as EuroLOT) was[1] a Polish regional airline based in Warsaw. Apart from its own flights under the eurolot.com brand, it operated short-haul flights for LOT Polish Airlines,[2] as well as ad hoc charter flights. Its main base was Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport (when operating for LOT), whilst its own flights centre on its hubs at John Paul II Kraków Airport and Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport.[3] The airline had its head office in the LOT Polish Airlines headquarters in Warsaw.[4][5] Eurolot ended operations on 31 March 2015.[1][6] The company slogan was Polish: Zawsze z klasą, Always classy.
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| Founded | 1996 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 2015 | ||||||
| Hubs | |||||||
| Fleet size | 14 | ||||||
| Destinations | 20 | ||||||
| Parent company |
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| Headquarters | Warsaw, Poland | ||||||
| Key people |
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| Website | eurolot.com | ||||||
History edit
Early years edit
EuroLOT was established on 19 December 1996 and commenced regular air operations on 1 July 1997. Initially, EuroLOT operated as an air carrier with its own network of connections. At that time EuroLOT's fleet was made up of turboprop aircraft: 5 owned ATR 42-30018-seat BAe Jetstream 31 aircraft. The primary task of EuroLOT was to reconstruct the network of domestic and regional flights while reducing operational costs and to create new value in the field of domestic air transport.
In 2000 the company ceased to be an independent carrier and became an operator. In the same year, EuroLOT took over all ATR aircraft from LOT. In 2002 EuroLOT began to modernize its fleet by replacing ATR 42-300 with newer ATR 42-500. As of March 2007, it had 278 employees.
Later development edit
Established as a wholly owned subsidiary of LOT Polish Airlines, its current main shareholder is the State Treasury with 62.1% of shares, while Towarzystwo Finansowe Silesia is the minority shareholder with 37.9% shares.[7] During the 2011 summer season, after the State Treasury acquired the majority of its shares, the airline started flying Polish regional routes under the eurolot.com brand, in addition to operating flights for LOT. Starting in December 2011, Eurolot introduced flights from Gdańsk and Warsaw to Poprad, Slovakia in addition to expanding rapidly in the domestic market.[3]
In 2012, Eurolot placed an order for 8 Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 NextGen turboprop aircraft to replace the old ATR fleet. In 2014 Eurolot considered the wet-lease of a LOT Boeing 787 Dreamliner for services to South East Asia as part of a larger LOT restructuring.[8] However, this plan did not materialise.
On 6 February 2015, it was announced that the company would be liquidated due to financial problems and end operations on 31 March 2015.[1][6] LOT Polish Airlines assumed some of Eurolot's routes, re-leasing former Eurolot aircraft.[9]
edit
Eurolot had codeshare agreements with the following airlines as of July 2014:
Destinations edit
Eurolot served the following destinations as of September 2014:[11]
| † | Hub |
| * | Operated by Eurolot for LOT Polish Airlines |
| * | Served by Eurolot and LOT Polish Airlines |
Fleet edit
As of November 2014, the Eurolot fleet consisted of the following aircraft[12] with an average age of 2.3 years for the Q400's:[13]
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Options | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bombardier Q400 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 78 | 6 served LOT routes. Were transferred to LOT.[14] 6 out of 12 options were converted into firm orders[15] |
References edit
- ^ a b c "EuroLOT to be liquidated, will suspend operations from March 31".
- ^ "O Eurolot Archived 2013-08-27 at the Wayback Machine" Eurolot. Retrieved on 18 April 2012
- ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 79.
- ^ "Contact Us Archived 2012-04-02 at the Wayback Machine." EuroLOT. Retrieved on 26 December 2012. "Eurolot SA ul.17 Stycznia 39 00-906 Warszawa"
- ^ "LOT Offices." LOT Polish Airlines. Retrieved on 26 March 2012. "Address: ul. 17 Stycznia 39 00-906 Warszawa"
- ^ a b "EuroLOT to End Operations in late-March 2015".
- ^ "" Eurolot: History Archived 2013-11-02 at the Wayback Machine". Retrieved on 2 June 2013
- ^ Airliner World: 7. May 2014.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "LOT Polish Airlines to assume several EuroLOT routes from April - ch-aviation.com". www.ch-aviation.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-16.
- ^ "LOT i Eurolot na jednym bilecie". pasazer.com. Retrieved 2014-07-15.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z "Route map". Archived from the original on 2014-09-10. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
- ^ "EuroLOT on ch-aviation".
- ^ "Fleet age Eurolot | Airfleets aviation".
- ^ "Bombardier Q400 Nextgen in Eurolot". Archived from the original on 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
- ^ Eurolot converts six Bombardier Q400 options to firm orders
External links edit
Media related to Eurolot at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 2012-08-06)
