As a result of the merger of two private airlines, Aerolot and Aero, LOT Polish Airlines was established on 29th December 1928.  They began actual operations on 1st January 1929, becoming one of the oldest active air carriers in the world.

LOT’s beginnings were modest but full of ambition. Its fleet consisted of 21 aircraft, which served both domestic and international routes. The first flight to Bucharest, launched on 1 April 1930, marked the beginning of the airline’s expansion into the international aviation arena. Other destinations such as Athens, Beirut and Helsinki soon followed.

In 1930, “LOT” joined the prestigious group of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In 1933, LOT moved its base from Mokotow airport to a new, modern airstrip at Okęcie. Between 1935 and 1936, the fleet was enriched with the then most modern aircraft, such as the Douglas DC-2, Lockheed L-10A Electra and Junkers Ju 52/3m, and later the Lockheed L-14H Super Electra.

During the 1930s, LOT witnessed and participated in significant events in aviation history. In 1938, its General Manager, Major Pilot Wacław Makowski, together with pilot Zbigniew Wysiekierski, made the pioneering flight of a twin-engine communications aircraft from a factory in the USA to Warsaw.  It lasted 85 hours and covered 24 850 km.

On the eve of the Second World War, in 1939, ‘LOT’ had 26 aircraft in its fleet and employed 694 highly qualified staff. LOT’s network of air links was 10,200 km long and covered 15 countries. The outbreak of the Second World War, triggered by the Third Reich’s invasion of Poland in September 1939, brutally interrupted LOT’s development. Most of the fleet was destroyed or interned, and the company’s operations were suspended. Operations only resumed after 1945.