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Marcin Piróg, CEO of LOT Polish Airlines, remains optimistic about the company's future. That's despite the fact that the firm now expects a loss for this year, after Mr Piróg initially promised zł.50 million in profit, Puls Biznesu reported.

“We probably won't be able to break even. The difficult situation in the European market and high oil prices hit us, especially in Q1. But contrary to European competitors, our results will be better than last year,” Mr Piróg said.

According to him, in April next year, LOT will have the most modern and newest fleet and the lowest cost-per-unit among traditional European airlines. But this leaves analysts skeptical.

“LOT does not know this about itself, and even less so about others,” said Tomasz Dziedzic, an aviation expert from the Institute of Tourism.

According to the Association of European Airlines (which comprises 32 airlines), in July, passenger growth reached 1.7 percent. In LOT's case, it amounted to 17 percent. In the first half of the year, the market grew by 3.9 percent on the Old Continent – in LOT's case, by 13 percent.

“This year, for the first time in history, we will have transported 5 million passengers,” Mr Piróg said.

“We are the fastest growing traditional European airline. … We are optimizing our connections network. Costs are falling, and operational results are going up. Revenues will increase by 10 percent.”

Poland A.M.