40th Anniversary of Launching LOT Flights to New York Flight Numbers Selected For Agent 007

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Apr 16, 2013, 02:26 ET

WARSAW, Poland, April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- LOT Polish Airlines is celebrating the 40th anniversary of launching its flight between New York City and Warsaw. Uninterrupted presence of the Polish carrier on this route for 40 years has confirmed its dominant position in this market.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101101/LA92109LOGO)

"Taking into consideration Poland's political situation at that time, the launching of airline operations to the US in 1973 should be recognized as a breakthrough in Poland's relations with the West," said Sebastian Mikosz, President of LOT Polish Airlines. "We are proud of such a long tradition of this flight, being the most popular among our passengers. Thanks to the well timed and plentiful connections, our North-Atlantic flights also generate a big flow of traffic via our Warsaw hub."

There is an amazing anecdote regarding the history of these flight numbers for the New York – Warsaw route. The flights departing from Warsaw should have had flight number LO 001 and those returning from New York should have carried the number LO 002. However, LOT decided to change the flight numbers to 006 and 007, respectively because of the most famous secret agent in the world, whose adventures were shown for the eighth time in movie theaters in 1973. In addition, the action for the 007 movie had been set in New York City!

In the upcoming summer season, LOT will be offering 11 flights a week on this route.
In 2012, LOT carried nearly 105,000 passengers on this route (up 4% in comparison with the preceding year). The load factor in the period between January – December 2012 was 88%, up 6% in relation to the same period in 2011. Moreover, the carrier showed increased sales in business class – up 9%.

ABOUT LOT
LOT Polish Airlines is one of the oldest airlines in the world. It has been connecting Poland with the rest of the world since 1929. Now planes in LOT colors fly to nearly 60 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, North America and Asia. Many of LOT's pilots are among the European and World Champions in several types of aviation sports. Since 2003 LOT is a member of Star Alliance whose network currently offers more than 21,500 daily flights to 1,356 airports in 193 countries all over the world.

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SOURCE LOT Polish Airlines