Overview - Centralwings

The low-fare subsidiary of LOT Polish Airlines, and based in Lodz, Poland, Centralwings was established in Dec-04 and began scheduled operations in Feb-05 as well as taking over LOTs charter flights. LOT established Centralwings as a way to better compete with other European budget carriers – particularly SkyEurope Airlines and Wizz Air, which have captured significant market share.

Centralwings serves routes from its main base at Warsaw Okecie airport to various European destinations using nine relatively young B737-300 and -400 aircraft leased from the LOT fleet. The airline’s business plan calls for its fleet to increase up to 15 aircraft by 2010.

In 2005, Centralwings forged a partnership with Germanwings. This deal involves Germanwings hosting Centralwings' IT services and the linking of the two carrier’s websites for ticket sales.

Centralwings CEO Maciej Kwiatkowski has stated that the airline plans to add more routes to its network in 2007, with the UK and Ireland forming the carrier’s key markets, followed by France and Italy. The airline will avoid launching routes that are already operated by parent company LOT. Kwiatkowski says he is confident the carrier can become profitable in 2008 in spite of the highly competitive LCC market in Eastern Europe.

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