LOT to take first leased 737 MAX 8 in December

LOT Polish Airlines expects to receive its first leased Boeing 737 MAX 8 in early December and launch scheduled services on the Warsaw-London Heathrow route in the same month.

In October 2016, LOT agreed to lease up to 11 737 MAX 8s from US lessor Air Lease Corp. for delivery from 2017-2020.

A second MAX will begin operations from Warsaw to destinations including London and Madrid from early January 2018. Three more aircraft will be delivered next year; the sixth of the type has been scheduled for May 2019.

The 186-seat aircraft, powered by CFM LEAP-1B engines, is configured in a three-class layout featuring business, premium economy and economy class.

LOT said the new aircraft type uses 15% less fuel compared to the current 737NG variants and a noise reduction of up to 40% compared with other aircraft in this class.

LOT also operates three retrofitted Boeing 737-400s, as well as four 737-800NGs, which were added to the fleet during the 2017 summer season.