LOT Polish Airlines has just announced its newest route to the United States, and it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
LOT Polish Airlines will fly to SFO as of May 2026
As of May 6, 2026, LOT Polish Airlines will launch 4x weekly, summer seasonal flights between Warsaw (WAW) and San Francisco (SFO). The flight will operate with the following schedule on Thursdays and Sundays:
LO35 Warsaw to San Francisco departing 11:15AM arriving 1:50PM
LO36 San Francisco to Warsaw departing 3:50PM arriving 12:05PM (+1 day)
Then the flight will operate with the following schedule on Wednesdays and Saturdays:
LO35 Warsaw to San Francisco departing 5:40PM arriving 8:15PM
LO36 San Francisco to Warsaw departing 10:15PM arriving 6:30PM (+1 day)
The 5,867-mile flight is blocked at 11hr35min westbound and 11hr15min eastbound.
LOT’s long haul fleet consists exclusively of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, and the airline plans to primarily use the smaller 787-8 variant for this service. This plane is configured with 252 seats, including 18 business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, and 213 economy seats.
LOT’s long haul fleet consists exclusively of 787s (both the -8 and -9 variants), so that plane will be used for the route. When it comes to the business class experience, you can expect fully flat seats in a 2-2-2 configuration. So it’s not a cutting edge product, but it is nice if you’re traveling as a pair.
How San Francisco fits into LOT’s network
San Francisco will be LOT Polish Airlines’ sixth destination in the United States, complementing service to Chicago (ORD), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), and Newark (EWR). For what it’s worth, LOT had actually announced plans to fly to San Francisco back in 2019, with an anticipated 2020 launch. As you’d expect, that never ended up materializing. So the airline is now giving this another shot, around six years later.
While this will be one of LOT’s longer routes, it’s a logical addition. Summer transatlantic demand is strong, San Francisco is independently a huge market, and LOT is in Star Alliance, so will have connectivity thanks to United’s hub at the airport.
Here’s how Robert Ludera, LOT’s Director of the Network Department, describes this:
“Transatlantic flights are of strategic importance for LOT Polish Airlines. In the past 12 months, 800,000 passengers travelled on all LOT flights between Poland and the United States. Not only will the new route connect the heart of Europe with the global hub for technology and innovation, but it will also open up new opportunities for both business travellers and tourists. San Francisco, along with neighbouring Silicon Valley, is the cradle of numerous global brands and a location that consistently attracts entrepreneurs and investors from around the world. It is also a city of exceptional charm, rich in culture, history and unique vibe, which has enjoyed unflagging popularity among tourists for years. We are delighted to expand our offer with a successive direct flight to the west coast of the United States and invite passengers to join us on our flights.”
Bottom line
LOT Polish Airlines will be launching 4x weekly seasonal flights between Warsaw and San Francisco as of the summer of 2026. This is a great new link between the Bay Area and Eastern Europe, which otherwise doesn’t have a lot of service.
This route was first supposed to launch in 2020, but the pandemic delayed that. So while it took six years for this to become a reality, better late than never, right?
What do you make of LOT’s new flight to San Francisco?