LOT Polish Airlines and Turkish Airlines have agreed on a major expansion of commercial ties. Both sides have signed a letter of understanding, which will initiate an enhanced cooperation between relevant Polish, Turkish and beyond markets and also deepen commercial cooperation on the existing ones.
Recognising the great significance of deepening the cooperation and desiring to create the most appropriate conditions for their development, both Turkish and Polish carrier have decided to implement a strategic partnership to make use of the possibilities to enhance benefits for their customers by offering them more connection alternatives and even better product. This will give passengers opportunity to travel with convenient stopover and one ticket only to even more destinations across the world. Final model of cooperation has not been decided yet, however both airlines agreed to proceed towards future joint venture cooperation.
Sebastian Mikosz, CEO, LOT Polish Airlines said, “LOT is ready to grow immediately as of 2016, and now is the best moment to strength equal cooperation with our key airline partners. LOT and Turkish Airlines have been partners for many years. I am convinced that this letter of understanding will help us to create unique and global offer. This will give our passengers all advantages of worldwide and supplementary networks of both carriers.”
Temel Kotil Ph.D, CEO, Turkish Airlines said, “This strategic partnership between our airlines will enable both carriers to enhance their presence on their respective markets, while contributing their efficiency on the routes agreed within the scope of extended cooperation. Considering their membership to the same alliance group, one can say that such a strategic partnership will also benefit Star Alliance.”
Turkish Airlines and LOT have been codesharing on each other’s flights on the route Istanbul-Warsaw since October 2000. The scope of codeshare agreement has been extended in 2014 with the inclusion of Turkish Airlines’ flights on the routes Istanbul-Amman, Istanbul-Cairo and Istanbul-Ankara and LOT Polish Airlines’ flights on the routes Vienna-Warsaw and Warsaw-Krakow.
With the expansion of the code share agreement, both airlines put its designator code to some selected flights of each other’s beyond Istanbul and Warsaw to domestic destinations in Turkey and Poland, as well as to points in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, benefiting from the global networks of Turkish Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines.