TravTalk India Online Magazine
Amit Ray, Director India, DACH markets & Italy and Head of Global Corporate and Strategic Sales at LOT Polish Airlines, shares how they are catering to the needs of Indian travellers, especially now with an additional connection via Mumbai. He says that the plan is to showcase more destinations in Poland to Indians going forward.
Nisha Verma
Amit Ray, Director India, DACH markets & Italy and Head of Global Corporate and Strategic Sales at LOT Polish Airlines informs that they entered the Indian market in September 2019 with direct flights between Delhi and Warsaw giving Indian consumers access to Central and Eastern Europe. “Post-COVID, we have gradually scaled up our frequencies to key markets worldwide. As far as India is concerned, we now operate seven weekly nonstop flights from India to our global hub in Warsaw—from Delhi every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday; and from Mumbai every Sunday and Wednesday. India has great potential and is considered a strategic market for LOT Polish Airlines, and we certainly desire to further strengthen our position and cooperate with Indian carriers here,” he adds.
India focused services
Ensuring that the services on board and on ground are suited for travellers in India, he shares, “Our engagement in India has been fruitful and we strongly believed in the Indian market from the beginning. For example, all flights between India and Poland are operated with our flagship aircraft, the modern Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring three class of service—Economy Class, Premium Economy Class and Business Class. On the culinary side, we are serving Indian food catered by well-known Taj Sats ex-India and by premium airline catering provider Do & Co ex-Poland, and we feature Indian movies and music for inflight entertainment. Furthermore, another crucial aspect for our valued customers from India is that we depart from Delhi and Mumbai during breakfast time, and passengers arrive at our global hub in Warsaw mid-day, giving them multiple options to continue their journey to many onward destinations across our network in Europe and North America. Our hub and spoke strategy, supported by our modern fleet and the onboard experience, are crucial pillars LOT Polish Airlines can build on – in India and globally, which is reflected in a net profit of approximately `1.8 billion in 2022.”
Trade engagement
Lauding the support of the partnerships in the travel industry, he says, “We certainly appreciate the valuable partnership with the Indian travel trade community and we work with them in a collaborative manner. Our B2B partners recognise that LOT Polish Airlines offers what their customers are looking for, and what the trade needs to work with us.”
Unique product
Amid several European carriers flying from India, LOT Polish has made its presence felt. Agrees Ray, “LOT Polish Airlines and India are a good fit. We strive to make our Indian guests feel welcomed aboard and enjoy the service they expect. LOT Polish Airlines is an independent airline with a 95-year long history; however, the airline and its staff are young at heart to provide a smooth customer experience.”
Partnerships
Speaking on codeshares, he says, “LOT Polish Airlines enjoys codeshare partnerships with other airlines from around the world, which share our understanding of customer service and guest experience. Among others these include Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, SAS, Singapore Airlines and, of course, Air India.”
