LOT Polish Airlines is introducing flights to the capital of Azerbaijan in May, its first destination in the country.

The airline intends to start flying between Warsaw Chopin International (WAW) and Heydar Aliyev International (GYD) in Baku from May 27. Service will be four times per week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays using Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The route will become the first to connect Poland and Azerbaijan nonstop and expands LOT’s footprint in the Caucasus region. The Star Alliance member currently flies to Yerevan in Armenia and Tbilisi in Georgia.

The announcement of a WAW-GYD service comes a month after LOT COO Maciej Wilk visited Baku to discuss the prospects of launching flights to the city, as well as the potential to explore ways to cooperate with Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL).

At the meeting, AZAL VP Eldar Hajiyev said that the opening of direct flights will serve as an additional incentive for the development of tourism and business relations between the two countries.

He added that since January 2020, fifth and seventh freedoms have been in effect at all airports of Azerbaijan. “These freedoms allow all foreign air carriers to operate flights from Azerbaijan to 40 countries in Europe, North America, Australia and Southeast Asia without any restrictions,” Hajiyev said.

According to data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser, Baku is currently connected nonstop to 14 destinations in Europe, five of which are in Turkey. Baku-Istanbul (IST) is the busiest route with 38X-weekly frequencies, followed by Baku-Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (SAW) with 3X-daily services.