On October 23 2025 LOT Polish Airlines unveiled a year-round route between Warsaw Chopin Airport and Almaty, Kazakhstan’s commercial capital. The service will launch on May 31 2026 with four weekly Boeing 737 MAX 8 flights in summer and three in winter.
Almaty becomes LOT’s second Kazakh destination after Astana and underscores the carrier’s strategy of positioning Warsaw as a Eurasian transfer hub. Network-planning chief Robert Ludera said the late-evening Warsaw departure allows “seamless same-ticket connections” from nine German-, Austrian- and Swiss-origin cities, an attractive proposition for multinational crews and project teams.
For mobility managers, the route shortens travel times for Polish energy, mining and infrastructure companies expanding in Central Asia and offers Kazakh professionals a direct link to EU headquarters. It also supports Kazakhstan’s pilot visa-waiver scheme for Polish business travellers, introduced earlier this year.
The announcement follows strong load factors on LOT’s Astana flights and coincides with growing bilateral trade—up 18 % in H1 2025 according to Poland’s Ministry of Development. Warsaw is lobbying for reciprocal five-year multiple-entry business visas to complement the new air link.
With Boeing 737 MAX capacity set at 189 seats in a two-class layout, LOT expects a 60 : 40 mix of business and leisure traffic. Companies should update travel policies to capitalise on the route, which is expected to shave at least five hours off typical one-stop itineraries via Istanbul or Dubai.
Almaty becomes LOT’s second Kazakh destination after Astana and underscores the carrier’s strategy of positioning Warsaw as a Eurasian transfer hub. Network-planning chief Robert Ludera said the late-evening Warsaw departure allows “seamless same-ticket connections” from nine German-, Austrian- and Swiss-origin cities, an attractive proposition for multinational crews and project teams.
For mobility managers, the route shortens travel times for Polish energy, mining and infrastructure companies expanding in Central Asia and offers Kazakh professionals a direct link to EU headquarters. It also supports Kazakhstan’s pilot visa-waiver scheme for Polish business travellers, introduced earlier this year.
The announcement follows strong load factors on LOT’s Astana flights and coincides with growing bilateral trade—up 18 % in H1 2025 according to Poland’s Ministry of Development. Warsaw is lobbying for reciprocal five-year multiple-entry business visas to complement the new air link.
With Boeing 737 MAX capacity set at 189 seats in a two-class layout, LOT expects a 60 : 40 mix of business and leisure traffic. Companies should update travel policies to capitalise on the route, which is expected to shave at least five hours off typical one-stop itineraries via Istanbul or Dubai.
Quelle: Aviation.Direct
