The Polish Government has approved an act setting out principles and conditions for the preparation, financing and implementation of investments in the construction of the New Central Polish Airport, near the city of Łódź.
Building on Poland’s location between east and west, the airport could become a hub for millions of passengers from Poland and far beyond.
The airport will take over from Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, the largest airport in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of passengers. Traffic at the airport has been rising, increasing by one-quarter between July 2016 and July 2017. In 2017, it served 15.75 million passengers, slightly more than Prague’s Vaclav Havel Airport, according to Airports Council International. As traffic continues to rise, the airport’s capacity will be met in a few years’ time.
To meet that capacity, the government plans to build a new airport between Warsaw and Łódź, in central Poland. One of the municipalities being considered is Baranów, 40km west of Warsaw. Built on around 3000 ha of land, the airport will have an initial capacity of 45 million passengers a year, which will later increase to 100 million. Air and railway traffic will be integrated into a single hub. Passengers will be able to reach the airport via new, high-speed train connections to Warsaw and other major cities. Road infrastructure around the airport will be developed, too, linking to the nearby motorway. The government envisages the creation of a “new town” by the airport, featuring a business park and congress centre with a regional significance.
The government does not rule out involvement by companies from abroad.
In neighbouring Belarus the Government is talking a very different approach and finalising its strategy for the development of regional airports, with different ones designated for different traffic types.
The New Central Polish Airport project is undeniably an idea that other countries would do well to study, especially those that consistently bicker about whether airport infrastructure investment should go into the capital city’s airport(s) or to the regions.
Source:The First News, Warsaw