The government of Poland plans to build a new mega-airport, designed for 100 million passengers, for 30 billion zlotys ($8.2 billion).The construction will last for 10 years, after which the main airport, Warsaw Chopin Airport, will be closed, said Mikolaj Wild, a representative of the Polish government responsible for the Central Polish Airport (CPA) construction.
“The construction and opening of the CPA is synonymous with the closure of the Chopin Airport, handling most of the traffic. Will it carry out other aviation activities, for example, for defense needs, well, this issue is still awaiting our decision,” stated Mikolaj Wild. At the same time, the Warsaw-Modlin Airport, which is the base of the Ryanair, will continue to operate.
The location of the Central Polish Airport has not yet been determined. It is known that it will be located between Warsaw and Lodz, within a radius of 40-50 km from the capital. At the first stage after the opening, the CPA is expected to receive 50 million passengers, later its passenger traffic will be increased to 100 million people.
The exact date of the construction is also unknown. According to the government, works will last 10 years. However, experts consider such period of time optimistic. In general, experts are critical of the airport establishment plans.
“This is an absurd idea. Where to get more than 50 million passengers a year at the airport and target 100 million, since up to 2030 the entire air traffic in Poland is estimated at about 60 million people?” noted Andrzej Raczynski, a professor at Gdańsk University and the former head of Gdansk Airport.
In 2016, all airports in Poland served a record number of passengers – about 35 million people. At the same time, the Warsaw Chopin Airport received 12.8 million passengers. According to the forecast of the Civil Aviation Administration of Poland, by 2030 the passenger traffic in Polish airports will exceed 59 million people.
Source – AeroTime
