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Low-cost carrier SkyEurope to extend Polish activities

WARSAW : Low-cost central European air carrier SkyEurope Airlines said it was set to expand its operations in Poland by opening a second base, in the southern city of Krakow.

"Poland is a very promising big market. We want to concentrate our activities in our two centres, Warsaw and Krakow, and develop them," managing director Christian Mandl was quoted as saying by the PAP news agency.

He said the airline would start flying from Krakow to London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam and Milan on September 30.

SkyEurope, whose shareholders include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and ABN AMRO, already has centres in Bratislava and Kosice, eastern Slovakia, and Budapest.

Krakow, the former royal capital, is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination in Poland, a country with a population of 38.2 million which is the biggest of the 10 states that joined the European Union on May 1.

In total, SkyEurope wants to transport a million passengers a year on its 12 aircraft, which link 36 destinations in 12 countries.

The SkyEurope announcement came on the same day as low-cost Hungarian airline WizzAir launched new services to London from Warsaw and the northern Polish city of Gdansk.

EasyJet and Air Polonia have also been operating for the past few months in Poland, while Poland's national carrier Lot is also preparing to launch its own its low-cost airline.

(Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/100160/1/.html)