A look into Poland’s new €8 billion airport

Poland is moving steadily towards starting construction of its new €8 billion Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) airport, or Central Communication Port in English.

The airport is scheduled to be located some 37 kilometers west of Warsaw, while according to the New Civil Engineer, geological excavations were underway last month.

CPK aims to become one of Europe’s largest and most important aviation hubs, which will feature worldwide direct flights.

In addition to this, the CPK project also aims to transform domestic infrastructure. Furthermore, high-speed railway works are scheduled, which will connect the airport to any major Polish city in less than 2.5 hours.

Some reports state that if the additional infrastructure works are taken into consideration, the project’s budget could climb to €30 billion.

The project is going to occupy an area of 3,000 ha, while its construction has been split into phases.

The first phase consists of two parallel runways and a main terminal, which will be able to accommodate about 40 million passengers per year, with flights projected to start in 2028.

During the second phase, a new terminal and runway are going to be added to the project, which will increase its total passenger capacity to 65 million people. Finally, a third phase is also included in the masterplan in case needed, which would bring the airport’s capacity to 100 million.

Some controversy regarding the project has been present, with the head of Ryanair, Michael O’ Leary, calling it unnecessary, among others, and Polish president Andrzej Duda characterizing it as “one of the most important that Poland is carrying out in the 21st century”.

However, it is only sure that the project is moving ahead, as it was recently announced that strategic investors were selected for 49% of shares, while a contract was signed for the air traffic control tower.