Green light for Air Polonia's low-cost route
By Kamil Tchorek
Air Polonia (AP) has met all of the requirements for scheduled route initialization set by the civil aviation authorities of Poland and the United Kingdom, the charter carrier said on Thursday. The development marks the crossing of a major red tape threshold that will free up AP's energies for negotiation with Polish and U.K. airports as well as further testing of its sales infrastructure before the launch of its low-cost brand.
"We're practically ready to go," says Air Polonia's head of marketing, Eryk Kłopotowski. "We own two Boeing 737-400s, our call center is fully functional and our Internet booking system is ready to be launched."
Unlike Silesian Air's GetJet, the other main contestant in the Polish low-cost airline race, Air Polonia is not giving any indication to travelers about when or at what price its flights will begin. "We don't want to risk making false promises," continues Kłopotowski, "... the trust of our customers must be earned, and we cannot earn that trust by teasing them."
Nevertheless, AP insiders tip Okęcie itself to be Air Polonia's departure hub, and the jury is still out on how the company will wrangle low-cost travel from one of the most expensive airports in Europe.
GetJet, by contrast, plans to fly from Katowice, which, as a new international airport, intends to enter the market with a new price philosophy. It is particularly Katowice, as well as the former military airbases being developed by the MPA (Military Property Agency), that foreign low-budget airports and airlines see as opportunities providing for breaking Poland's high price barrier to air travel.
One specialist in London watching developments in Poland closely points out, "Okęcie cannot charge a low-budget aircraft a low rate, while it continues to charge high rates to the traditional flag carrier for the same goods and services." In London, low-cost airlines are funneled into low-cost airports, while the established carriers service the major - and expensive - hub of Heathrow.
Air Polonia's Financial Advisor, Wojciech Jancek admits that there are financial safeguards that need to be established. "We are trying to finalize discussions with other airlines and investors. Some form of co-operation would be preferable. One sensible project is better for the industry than three small projects that each fail after a month."
The same sentiment is held by another carrier with a similar profile, White Eagle, whose chairman Zbigniew Niemczycki steers an even more cautious approach to the low-budget market than does AP. "We are going to wait and see the reaction of the market to the new environment next year," says Niemczycki, "...and we would prefer to find a co-operative solution." Like Air Polonia, White Eagle has leased its small passenger fleet to larger carriers, while most of its business continues to be in cargo transport.
In a related air industry development, a delegation of U.S. air industry leaders, including Boeing and Raytheon, will arrive in Warsaw next week to discuss plans by government and industry to create a 'flight industry corridor' of production and assembly plants.
