LOT expands Canada flights
If successful, the new charter program could be expanded to include the cities of Calgary and Vancouver.
The Krakow-Toronto route, which will only operate for the summer, will consist of nine charter flights. This will add to existing charters LOT runs from Warsaw to Toronto and Edmonton.
"This is strictly a marketing move," said Pawel Gontarczyk, director of LOT's flight planning department. "Our research showed that there is a demand for such flights, and if we don't do it, other carriers will."
But if the pilot program proves successful, LOT may opt to make the Krakow-Toronto charters a year-round service. In addition, the airline is considering direct-charter flights to Calgary and Vancouver in the near future, said Andrzej Kazimierczak, a public relations officer at LOT.
Linda McDonald, commercial adviser at the Canadian Embassy, said the new route reflects significant growth in exchanges between Canada and Poland.
"And that includes a growth in tourist exchange which is a very important commercial earner for any country," she said. "Besides, Canada has strong connections with Krakow as many Polish Canadians come from that city."
The Canadian embassy issued more than 20,000 visas to Poles last year, of which 92.3% were for tourist purposes. The number of travelers was slightly down on 1996, but at the same time more multi-entry visas were issued, the embassy's press office said.
In 1997, more than 52,000 passengers flew to or from Canada on LOT, Kazimierczak said. The first Polish direct flight between Poland and Canada was introduced in 1972 on the Warsaw-Montreal-Warsaw route. The charter flights were replaced by regular ones in 1976. But twenty years later, LOT closed the connection and introduced charter flights to Toronto.
"Those are (Toronto and Edmonton) two cities in two different regions of Canada," Kazimierczak said. "Besides, in those cities there is a much greater conglomeration of Polish Canadians than in Montreal."
The Krakow-Toronto route, which will only operate for the summer, will consist of nine charter flights. This will add to existing charters LOT runs from Warsaw to Toronto and Edmonton.
"This is strictly a marketing move," said Pawel Gontarczyk, director of LOT's flight planning department. "Our research showed that there is a demand for such flights, and if we don't do it, other carriers will."
But if the pilot program proves successful, LOT may opt to make the Krakow-Toronto charters a year-round service. In addition, the airline is considering direct-charter flights to Calgary and Vancouver in the near future, said Andrzej Kazimierczak, a public relations officer at LOT.
Linda McDonald, commercial adviser at the Canadian Embassy, said the new route reflects significant growth in exchanges between Canada and Poland.
"And that includes a growth in tourist exchange which is a very important commercial earner for any country," she said. "Besides, Canada has strong connections with Krakow as many Polish Canadians come from that city."
The Canadian embassy issued more than 20,000 visas to Poles last year, of which 92.3% were for tourist purposes. The number of travelers was slightly down on 1996, but at the same time more multi-entry visas were issued, the embassy's press office said.
In 1997, more than 52,000 passengers flew to or from Canada on LOT, Kazimierczak said. The first Polish direct flight between Poland and Canada was introduced in 1972 on the Warsaw-Montreal-Warsaw route. The charter flights were replaced by regular ones in 1976. But twenty years later, LOT closed the connection and introduced charter flights to Toronto.
"Those are (Toronto and Edmonton) two cities in two different regions of Canada," Kazimierczak said. "Besides, in those cities there is a much greater conglomeration of Polish Canadians than in Montreal."
