Poland profile: Ready for the future

With annual air travel in Poland expected to reach over 38 million passengers by the end of the decade, Polish airports are going through a period of expansion and development, says Przemysław Przybylski of Warsaw Chopin Airport

It was exactly 9:15am on Monday 17 December 2012 when Enter Air’s Boeing 737-400, carrying guests invited for the official opening of an airport in Lublin, touched down to a round of applause on board. The passengers were cheering, aware that they were taking part in the historic first landing at the new airport. Poland’s Minister of Transport Sławomir Nowak later said: “Three years ago this place was nothing but a field; now it’s a modern airport – something the local community can be proud of.”

The construction of Lublin Airport took two years to complete and cost around 400 million zlotys. The airport is located approximately 15km from downtown Lublin, close to the PZL Świdnik helicopter factory. It has a 2.5km-long runway, an apron with five stands and a passenger terminal that spans 11,000m2. Lublin Airport is expected to welcome around 300,000 passengers in its first year of operation, but is capable and ready to handle as many as one million.

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