LOT Polish Airlines shares to be publicly traded following restructuring

LOT Polish Airlines aims to become listed on the Warsaw bourse in 2004, the year it will complete a restructuring plan and in which Poland hopes to join the European Union, chief executive Jan Litwinski said on Tuesday. "Our priorities are cost-cutting, joining the Star Alliance and ensuring LOT's competitiveness once the skies are open after Poland joins the EU," Li twinski said. "By 2004, our restructuring should be complete and the o wnership issues - the sale of Swissair's stake in the company - should be resolved," he added. Litwinski said that LOT, which carried a record 3.2 million passengers in 2001, was unlikely to find a strategic investor in the struggling airline industry. He said the most likely scenario was a purchase of the Swissair stake by financial investors, but declined to reveal d etails. The sale is being handled by Swissair's liquidator. On Tuesday, LOT signed a co-operation and code-sharing deal with Austrian Airlines, the next step to joining the Star Alliance airline network having signed a deal with Germany's Lufthansa in April. The alliance, which includes 14 carriers, co-ordinates flight schedules, services and frequent-flyer points for member airlines, allowing for tighter cost control and a wider range of offers for passengers. Management board member Marek Rymkiewicz told reporters that LOT hoped soon to sign a co-operation deal with SAS. (Reuters)