Modlin in the making

Eugeniusz Wróbel, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Transport and Construction, recently presented the Ministry's plans to erect a second airport for Warsaw in the former Modlin military airport. The Minister, however, wasn't able to name a date when construction will start.

Przedsiębiorstwo Porty Lotnicze (PPL) has already set up a company to manage the Modlin airport. "The problem with the company is that it has no right to the plot where the airport will be located because it is owned by the Military Property Agency (AMW). So far PPL has bought and owns one percent of the plot," says Artur Burak, a spokesperson for PPL. It estimates that the cost of developing the airport will greatly exceed zł.100 million and should be provided by the state budget, the Marshal's Office and PPL.

The Ministry, PPL and the Marshal's Office established two commissions, one of which will prepare the schedule of works for the construction of the airport. The other commission's responsibility is to settle the matter of the plot. The Marshal's Office expects to be given the plot and the airport infrastructure by the AMW and PPL's Burak says that an agreement between the Ministry of Transport and Construction and the Ministry of Defense is necessary to facilitate this.

According to Krzysztof Kapis, former president of the Civil Aviation Office, both PPL and the Marshal's Office should reassess the project of the Modlin airport. "The decision of the Ministry of Transport and Construction is that the process wasn't sufficiently well prepared and now the business plan and financial structure need reconsidering," says Kapis. He believes the project could be completed around 2008 year.