LOT Polish Airlines starting direct New York to Budapest service

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Hungary hasn't had direct service to the US since American Airlines cut their flight and Malév went bankrupt in 2012, but it looks like starting next May, they're going to sponsor a new fifth freedom flight between NYC/Chicago and Budapest operated by LOT Polish Airlines.  Having a direct flight will help tourism and commerce so it makes sense the Hungarian government would want to sponsor this service. Apparently they originally planning to have Emirates operate the flight, but that fell through.

My first-ever 787 flight was on LOT Polish (their entire long-haul fleet is 787), and we had a great trip. I wrote a trip report for it over on Medium.com. I've always wanted to go to Budapest and I might actually take this flight when I finally get around to going. They're part of Star Alliance, and you can search/book award flights through United.com. Also, I don't know if this is typical, but I actually called their call center (push the buttons to get to the First Class support people) and they actually manually opened up another award seat for me so our friend could join us as a last-minute addition.


Lie-flat seats in a 2-2-2 config
Their chef is a "taste sorceress"
Z is nearly 2 meters tall but there's plenty of headroom
We got a sneak peak at the crew rest "bump"

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