Poland will have an international hub airport?

This week, the Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers made a recommendation about construction of a new airport in Poland. The new so-called central communication port is to be a big international hub allowing for long-distance air connections. It is to meet the growing air travel demand of Poles and also put Poland on the spotlight as a transportation node. The decision was made unanimously and “without any doubt”.

In the last four years, airline travel numbers in Poland quadrupled. In the last twelve months, there has been a 12 percent increase when it comes to passenger numbers. With that pace of increased demand for airport services, it is becoming more and more important to foster conditions for meeting this demand.

Airport capacity is not unlimited and according to the prognosis of Civil Aviation Authority, airports in Poland will service almost 60 million passengers in 2030. The Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers sees the upcoming challenges for maintaining good air travel conditions and believes construction of a new, large air hub will be a good solution.

Central Airport may be a communication heart of Poland, and its construction – today’s big infrastructural, logistics and development project – Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said. The port, according to early analyses, may be able to service up to 180 million of passengers and be an important mark on the communication map of Europe, an international communication node linking the West and the East.

The port is planned to be located in the middle of Poland, more specifically: between Warsaw and Łódź, which is to guarantee good access to road and rail network. It is estimated that its construction is going to take around 10 years and cost around 30 billion PLN. According to the early plans, state budget is not going to be a substantial source of financing. The investment will have a commercial profile.

Currently in Poland there are 15 airports. The biggest one is Chopin Airport (“Okęcie”) in Warsaw. Last year, it welcomed 12.8 million passengers.