Troubled Polish airline LOT is aiming to reach an operating profit of EUR€20 million (USD$27.5 million) next year and remain profitable in 2015, its chief executive said on Friday.
LOT is currently under investigation by the European Commission over whether Poland broke competition rules when it gave it about EUR€200 million in state aid.
"The plan submitted to the EU is to be profitable on EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) in 2014 at a level of roughly EUR€20 million," chief executive Sebastian Mikosz told Reuters news agency. "2014 will turn positive, 2015 also, but this will require a huge effort."
LOT, which is undergoing a restructuring that includes lay-offs and scrapping routes, expects a 2013 operating loss of around PLN20 million zlotys (USD$6.6 million), it said earlier this week, around PLN122 million less than it had expected.
"The company is still in trouble. I have more optimism now, but I also have even more challenges. The fourth quarter is looking OK, this brings me optimism," Mikosz said.
Mikosz declined to give any details of an agreement with Boeing on compensation for the faults that grounded its 787 Dreamliner but said it was now flying well and passengers' satisfaction with the plane was high.
"Having a Dreamliner is a bit like being married to Paris Hilton," he added. "Every thing you do, every slightest delay, it's in the media."
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