LOT Polish Airlines is re-entering the Far East market with a three-time-a-week service from Warsaw to Hanoi – the service launches on 19th October. This will be the carrier’s only destination in East Asia. So why this route? This Cold War blow-back seems a curious choice, particularly as Vietnam is at least nominally still a communist state. Why not Bangkok, Soeul, Osaka or Taipei?
Well, the new service does make some sense, even though it may still prove a foolhardy move. LOT has a less than stellar history in the region with its Beijing service being stymied a couple of years ago by lack of overflight rights with Russia. It currently serves no destination west of Beirut. In the meantime, the competition – virtually every European long-haul airline – is already flying to Singapore, Bangkok, plus a destination or two in China or Japan. Also, Poland, itself twice the size of any other eastern EU country, hosts Europe’s third largest Vietnamese community with a population of around 50,000. What’s more, LOT has a fleet of under-utilised Boeing 767s. All this makes Hanoi seem a less eccentric way back into the far-eastern market. So, however unlikely, Hanoi presents a niche opportunity that may yet prove a success for LOT.
