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This timeline covers the history of LOT from its 1929 founding until the present day
1929 - LOT Polish Airlines is officially created on January 1st 1929 as a state airline, taking over the previously operating private companies AEROLOT and AERO as well as their Warsaw-Gdansk, Warsaw-Poznan, Warsaw-Brno-Vienna, Warsaw-Lvov, Kraków-Katowice routes.
1930 - LOT purchases 10 three-engine Fokker FVIIb/3M aircraft and opens the Warsaw-Bucharest route.
1931 - LOT joins the International Air Traffic Association (IATA).
1932 - LOT launches air service to Tallin via Vilnus and Riga.
1937 - Polish planes are the first to reach Lydda (Tel Aviv) on a route that goes from Warsaw to Lvov, Czerniowice, Bucharest, Sofia, Salonique, Athens and Rodos before reaching Palestine.
1938 - Waclaw Makowski, LOT's pre-war director, delivers a Lockheed L-14H from Los Angeles to Warsaw in a flight of more than 24,850 km. The adventure, an unseen exploit for the times, was highly publicized in both the US and Polish press.
1939 - With the invasion of Poland and the start of World War II, LOT ceased operations and evacuated its planes to Rumunia. Most of the planes were lost.
1945 - Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT start operations from scratch.
1946 - The Polish airlines receives 10 Li-2 planes from the army and opens the first domestic route between Warsaw and Gdansk. During that year, 9 new Douglas DC-3 aircraft are also purchased and LOT opens international connections to Berlin, Paris, Stockholm and Prague.
1949 - Five Ilyushin IL-12 planes enter the fleet. A line to Brussels is inaugurated.
1955 - The delivery of the first Ilyushin IL-14 planes takes place. Flights to Moscow and Vienna are undertaken. The total number of passengers since the beginning of operations reaches the milestone number of 1 million.
1957 - LOT takes delivery of 3 Convair CV-240 aircraft.
1958 - Two European capitals, London and Zurich, are added to LOT's network.
1961 - The Ilyushin IL-18 turboprop enters the fleet.
1962 - The purchase of 3 Vickers Viscount 804's.
1963 - Polish planes fly to Cairo.
1966 - Antonov AN-24 enter into service on domestic routes.
1968 - The purchase of 5 Tupolev TU-134s begins LOT's jet age.
1969 - The new terminal is opened at Okecie.
1972 - Long-range Ilyushin IL-62 fan jets begin service on LOT routes.
1973 - The first flight to New York.
1977 - LOT starts flying to Bangkok (via Dubai) and Bombay.
1985 - Eight Tupolev TU-154M planes are purchased to service medium-range routes.
1989 - The fleet renewal process begins. Poland purchases the first Boeing B767-200ER (registered SP-LOA and named "Gniezno").
1991 - Franco-Italian regional ATR-72s are purchased.
1992 - Boeing B737s enter into service. New passenger and cargo terminals are innaugurated.
1993 - LOT opens new routes, from Warsaw to Oslo (via Stockholm) and from Katowice to Frankfurt.
1996 - LOT signs a code-share agreements with American Airlines
1997 - euroLOT, a subsidiary company, is created to serve the domestic market. An agreement with General Electric Engine Services is signed.
1998 - LOT and British Airways sign a "Memorandum of Understanding", which starts the collaboration between the two airlines. The first Aerospatiale-Alenia ATR-42 joins euroLOT's fleet.
1999 - LOT celebrates its 70th anniversary. SAirGroup purchases a 37.6% stake in the airline as a part of the privatization of LOT. The first Brazilian Embraer ERJ-145 arrives in Warsaw.
2000 - LOT becomes a full member of "The Qualiflyer Group". Warsaw-Okecie airport becomes a Qualiflyer hub.