LOT Polish has nearly 100 destinations from Warsaw in 2026; 9 new routes this year
LOT Polish has been doubling down at its Warsaw HUB. In 2026, Cirium schedule information shows that the Star Alliance member has 7.5 million one-way seats, 12% above the prior record set in 2025. Capacity has doubled in the past decade.
The Polish flag carrier has 52% of WAW seats this year. While that’s the highest share since 2024, it is down from the previous high of 58% in the past 20 years, which was in 2019. This is, of course, largely due to the considerable growth of ULCCs Wizz Air and Ryanair, which collectively have a quarter of WAW’s capacity in 2026.
Planespotters.net indicates that LOT Polish has 93 aircraft, with an average age of 10.6 years. It has 31 737 MAX 8s, 15 E195s, 13 E175s, eight E190s, eight 787-9s, seven 787-8s, six 737-800s, three E195-E2s and two E170s. In total, the airline has 138 seats per flight in 2026, which is the most to date. It was under 100 as recently as 2017.
LOT Polish serves 53 countries from WAW
Cirium indicates that LOT Polish has 97 destinations from WAW this year, which are in 53 countries globally. Compared to 2025, Thailand is now served, which follows the launch of service to Bangkok BKK on 7 October 2026 (3 to 5-weekly). However, the carrier has ceased flying to Lebanon, as Beirut service ended in October 2025. The route had been flown for years.
28 of the 53 nations has seen the airline’s capacity increase by double or triple digits year-on-year. Finland has expanded the most (+256%), followed by Morocco (+190%), Spain (+86%), Kazakhstan (+72%), Portugal (+65%), Iceland (+51%), Greece (+50%), Norway (+45%), Malta (+39%) and Japan (+30%).
Only Spain is in the top 10 list. The considerable expansion means that it has jumped from 16th place last year to fifth now. Five destinations are served: Barcelona; Madrid; Malaga; Palma de Mallorca; and Tenerife TFS. Two are new. Flights to Malaga launched on 15 January 2026 (daily in the summer), followed by Palma on 30 May 2026 (3-weekly).
Due to the continuing war in Iran, the two biggest reductions in capacity were to Saudi Arabia (-73%) and the UAE (-34%). North Macedonia was next (-19%), followed by Israel (-13%), Bulgaria (-11%), Azerbaijan (-8%), Slovakia (-6%), Czechia (-4%), Georgia (-3%) and Armenia (-2%). LOT Polish began flying to Riyadh in June 2024 (3-weekly), with flights suspended in early 2026. They are due to resume in April 2027.
With 1.2 million one-way seats, the domestic market accounts for 16% of the airline’s WAW capacity. As more than nine in 10 services are on RJs, intra-Poland accounts for 22% of flights. Ten cities are served: Bydgoszcz, Gdansk, Katowice, Krakow, Lublin, Poznan, Rzeszow, Szezcein, Wroclaw and Zielona Gora. Around three-quarters of domestic passengers connect in WAW.
Krakow is LOT Polish’s top market from WAW
With 254,000 one-way seats, the ever-popular city of Krakow remains the airline’s leading destination from WAW. LOT Polish is the only operator between the Polish capital and the country’s second most populous city and key tourist market, primarily as trains take just over two hours. LOT Polish has 42-weekly departures in October, with about 80% of passengers transiting in WAW.
6.1 million of LOT Polish’s 7.5 million one-way seats from WAW are within Europe, which has exceeded the prior high by 13%. With 8% more seats, non-European capacity is at a new record too, helped by Asia (+16%) and North America (+10%).
Comparing 2025 with what’s available in 2026 shows that LOT Polish has added nine destinations: Almaty, Bangkok BKK, Bologna, Heraklion, Malaga, Palma, Porto, San Francisco and Tromso. However, it has stopped flying to Beirut and Innsbruck.
