British Airways today announced details of its co-operation with LOT Polish Airlines. The move is the latest step in the airline«s strategy of building a comprehensive network of European services.

An extensive code-share agreement between British Airways and LOT covering eight weekly flights between the UK and Poland will come into effect on August 10, 1998. The jointly-coded services will be between Manchester and Warsaw, with both carriers offering three weekly return services each, as well as on LOT«s two return flights per week connecting Gatwick with Gdansk.

The agreement will be supported by a link-up of mileage award programmes, initially enabling frequent flyers to earn and redeem miles on the code-share flights.

The airlines will continue to work together to develop more code-share opportunities improving and expanding services between the UK and Poland. The possibility of an equity investment in LOT is not excluded from the on-going negotiations.

The co-operation with LOT will provide passengers travelling to and from Poland with a more comprehensive flight schedule, seamless connections and an enhancement in choice and quality of service. Moreover, it will strengthen the airlines« competitiveness in one of the fastest growing regions of Europe.

Bob Ayling, British Airways« Chief Executive, said: “We are proud to forge closer links with LOT, a well-established carrier with a modern fleet and high service level. Together, we can offer customers the benefits of a real global network and can secure the best possible service for our passengers. I am more than pleased that our European alliance network is taking such a strong shape.”

Next to the alliances already in place in Germany and France, British Airways started an extensive code-share agreement in the Nordic region with Finnair only recently. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Iberia last year.

Jan Litwinski, CEO of LOT, explained: “We have worked hard to develop our relationship with British Airways, the finest airline in Europe, into a business proposition to our customers. We made huge progress in the shortest possible time and are now able to offer a high-quality joint service on the market.”

——-