New Polish aviation group gets off ground
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
11.10.2018 08:00
A new Polish aviation group based on the national airline LOT has started operating after the assets of four leading domestic aviation companies were transferred to it on Wednesday.
A Boeing 787-8 plane in LOT Polish Airlines livery. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Adrian Pingstone/Public Domain
The new state-owned Polish Aviation Group (PGL), endowed with capital of PLN 2.5 billion (EUR 580 million, USD 670 million), brings together the country’s largest aviation service providers led by LOT Polish Airlines.
The group includes aircraft service provider LOT Aircraft Maintenance Services; LS Airport Services, a provider of ground services for passengers; and aircraft repair company LS Technics, executives have said.
The constituent companies “will be sharing the same goals and profitable growth strategy under one integrated structure and common management centre,” the Polish Aviation Group said in a statement released on Wednesday.
It also said that the move whereby four leading Polish aviation companies were pooling forces “under the same roof” marked the start of aviation sector “integration” in Poland and across Central and Eastern Europe.
In August, Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) “gave its consent for PGL to take over LOT, LOTAMS, LSAS and LST,” according to the statement.
When Poland's government announced the establishment of the new aviation group in early January—then with initial capital of PLN 1.2 billion (EUR 290 million, USD 350 million)—officials said the consolidation move reflected similar trends in Western Europe.
They also said that the aim was to enable Poland’s aviation service providers to more effectively compete with global rivals, while capitalising on a growing air travel market and a planned new hub airport near Warsaw.
LOT CEO Rafał Milczarski heads the new group as its chairman of the board, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency noted as the Polish Aviation Group got off the ground on Wednesday.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR, PAP, CEC Government Relations