Airport hub on hold despite tender plan
By : Robert Wylot
Warsaw's Fryderyk Chopin International Airport has reopened the tender for its expansion plans, but the time needed to complete the project could jeopardize the airport's ability to compete regionally, industry analysts said last week.
On July 12 six construction consortia received tender information from the Polish Airport Authority (PPL) to redevelop the existing terminal and to build a second, bigger one for $300 million-$350 million. But even if the new terminal is completed by 2005 its additional capacity will not be ready on time, officials said. The airport's capacity is just under 5 million passengers annually, but traffic last year reached 4.3 million and PPL's forecast for 2001 is 4.5 million travelers. The new terminal will increase Chopin's capacity to 12 million-12.5 million passengers a year.
"We expect to pass the 5 million mark in 2004," said Anna Jozwiak, spokeswoman for PPL.
Leszek Chorzewski, spokesman for national carrier LOT Polish Airlines (LOT), said the delay could risk LOT's ability to compete with other airlines in Central Europe.
"Our passenger figures are dependent on the basis of infrastructure," he said.
In addition, because air traffic to and from Poland is expected to grow by some 10% annually, the importance of boosting the airport's capacity is becoming increasingly urgent for airlines operating in Warsaw. "From our perspective, (the expansion) should be (completed) earlier (than 2005) 2005 is the latest," said Christopher Zimmer, manager of Lufthansa in Poland. Chorzewski agreed: "(Chopin airport) needs expansion. Terminal One is operating on its last legs."
On the up side, Chopin's Central European rivals are experiencing similar problems. Capacity at Prague's Ruzyne airport is 6.4 million passengers annually the level it expects to reach this year. "We're OK this year, but next year will be bad," said Milos Stastny, general director of the Czech Airport Authority. But according to Stastny, construction of Ruzyne's new terminal will start in 2002 and be completed by 2004, lifting Prague's capacity by 3.5 million passengers.
Budapest's Ferihegy airport, whose capacity is 5.5 million passengers a year, carried 4.4 million travelers in 2000. Robert Szabo of LRI, Hungary's Air Traffic and Airport Authority, said: "With the traffic growth trend of more than 10% per annum, we have two to three years to go, but we need a new terminal by 2006." According to Szabo, plans to expand the airport are on schedule.
Chopin is also concerned that its future as a regional hub may be in doubt if the Qualiflyer alliance which includes Swissair and LOT dissolves or joins a bigger group. If this happens, LOT's new partners may have little interest in developing and keeping a major hub in Warsaw. "Qualiflyer will soon break up, especially as the airlines belonging to this alliance are posting very poor results now," said Elzbieta Marciszewska, an airline industry analyst at the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH). "If that happens the situation in Warsaw will certainly deteriorate."
Apart from Qualiflyer, the two other big worldwide alliances SkyTeam and Star Alliance are not interested in major expansion plans in Warsaw. SkyTeam, with CSA Czech Airlines as a member airline, is focused on Prague. Lufthansa, the leading European airline in the Star Alliance, isn't planning to develop a hub in Central and Eastern Europe, especially since it could use Berlin or Vienna, the latter being dominated by Austrian Airlines, another Star Alliance member. According to Airport Council International (ACI), passenger traffic at these two airports is two to three times higher than in Warsaw.
"We are not planning to build a hub in Central Europe. Of course, due to the alliance with Austrian Airlines, Vienna is our major airport in the region," said Zimmer, who added that Frankfurt and Munich are Lufthansa's European hubs. "Lufthansa's strategy is detrimental to Warsaw's airport, because Lufthansa flies its Polish travelers to German hubs," Marciszewska said.
But Marciszewska sees a bigger opportunity for Chopin if LOT joins the Oneworld Alliance, of which British Airways (BA) is a member. "British Airways bid for LOT (in 1999) and wanted to build a hub in Warsaw as it had a rather small network in Central and Eastern Europe; I think they are still interested," she said. Emilia Osewska, BA's country commercial manager for Poland, declined to comment.
