Billund - LOT's Fifth Scandinavian Destination

Warsaw, 8 February 2018 – Billund is LOT’s fifth destination in Scandinavia with flights to be operated throughout a week on a daily basis, including Monday through Friday twice a day. The first flight from Warsaw to Billund is scheduled for 2 July. Tickets are going on sale starting today.

Billund is a hub for several cities in Jutland, in Western Denmark, including Esbjerg, Herning, Silkeborg, Aarhus, Horsens and Odense. Located in its direct vicinity, Legoland Amusement Park is the largest family theme park in the world. No other theme park in Europe has an international airport located that close.

The flights on the Warsaw-Billund route will be operated Monday through Friday twice a day ensuring great travel flexibility to LOT’s passengers. With the decrease in demand for flights on Saturdays and Sundays, LOT is going to operate one flight a day on that route.

The flight on the Warsaw-Billund route will last approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes and will be operated by Embraer 170s and 175s with the seat capacity of 70 - 82 seats in three travel classes: business, economy premium and economy.

The flights are scheduled to be operated as follows:

on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays

WAW 08:20 – BLL 10:00

BLL 10:35 - WAW 12:20

WAW 17:30 – BLL 19:10

BLL 19:50 - WAW 21:35

On Saturdays there will be one morning flight only and on Sundays - one afternoon flight.

Such timetable allows LOT to offer the most attractive connections between Billund and various destinations of the Central and Eastern Europe, Balkans, Central Asia, the Far East and North America, e.g. Kraków, Kiev, Kharkov, Vilnius, Moscow, Bucharest, Astana, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. On the other hand, the timetable allows passengers from many cities in the Central and Eastern Europe and Asia to travel to Billund with a convenient transfer (usually in less than 2 hours) at LOT’s Warsaw Chopin Airport.

There are several companies headquartered in Western Denmark which operate in Poland, for example, Lego, JYSK, Arla, Velux and DONG Energy.

“Billund is one of more important business and scientific centers in Scandinavia while Southern Jutland is among the areas with the highest GDP per capita in Scandinavia. What’s important, a few dozen thousand Poles live in Western Denmark. The new connection will certainly be appreciated also by passengers travelling to Billund and neighboring areas on holiday or to visit family and friends,” says Adrian Kubicki, Director of Corporate Communications and Spokesperson. “An extensive network of flights and the largest hub in the Central and Eastern Europe are our assets,” adds Adrian Kubicki.

LOT’s new route is targeted both at passengers travelling on business whom the Polish airlines are able to offer very attractive fares in the business and premium classes as well as those travelling on leisure. After Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Gothenburg and Luxembourg, Billund is also another important midsize business center in the Western Europe providing LOT with an opportunity to develop its network of connections.

“We are proud to welcome LOT to Billund and delighted that LOT have seen the potential in the West Danish market. We know that business traffic between Poland and West Denmark is extensive. The tight links between our two regions will only be strengthened by the route,” says CEO Kjeld Zacho J?rgensen, Billund Airport. “Furthermore, the new flight from Warsaw will make the journey from West Denmark to Polish and other Central and Eastern European destinations easier and faster going forward. Finally, the new LOT route is also great news to Polish children who want to visit the Legoland Billund Resort, as the amusement park is right on the doorstep to Billund Airport,” stresses he.

The launch of the new Warsaw-Billund route is an element of LOT’s 2016-2020 profitable growth strategy that the airlines have been consistently implementing. Based on its underlying assumptions, LOT intends to become the first-choice airlines not only among passengers travelling from Poland but also from other CEE countries. LOT forecasts that its annual passenger traffic will have reached over 10 m passengers by 2020 meaning that the number of its passengers will have doubled in four years.

In 2017 LOT announced the launch of 27 connections, including from Warsaw to: Los Angeles, Newark, Astana and Singapore, from Budapest to New York City and Chicago, from Kraków to Chicago and from Rzeszów to Newark.

All long-haul flights in LOT’s network are operated by eight Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners. Each of them offers 252 seats in three classes: 18 in business, 21 in premium economy and 213 in economy. LOT was the first European airline to have introduced Dreamliners into its fleet. “B787 is currently the most technologically advanced wide-body passenger aircraft in the world. Its composite structure and state-of-the-art engines reduce fuel consumption and offer higher levels of comfort compared to other planes” – says Adrian Kubicki from LOT.

In 2017 LOT’s passenger traffic totaled over 6.8m which means that the figure went up by nearly 25% year-to-year. During that time four new Boeings were delivered to LOT: two B787 Dreamliners and two B737 MAX 8s. 12 more machines will be added to LOT’s fleet in 2018: three B787-9s (a larger version of the Dreamliner with 42 additional seats), three B737 MAX 8s and six Embraer 195s.