New Ryanair base could touch down in Wrocław
Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline, has long said that it perceives Poland as the most promising market in Europe. Now, the carrier is looking for the best location for its Eastern European base, and Wrocław seems to be top of its list.
Last week, Bernard Berger, Ryanair's business development director, and Michael Cawley, the company's chief operating officer, visited various airports throughout Poland, and seemed to be leaning towards locating the base at Wrocław's Copernicus airport in Lower Silesia.
Though the final decision will not be made until early spring, the airport's vice-president of the board, Leszek Karwowski, is sounding confident: "I estimate the chances of Wrocław [receiving the Eastern European base] at 80-90 percent."
Although last year's negotiations limited the number of potential candidates to three cities - Wrocław, Łód and Poznań - the officials' appearance in Kraków last week threw Kraków's Balice airport into the running. Kraków already acts as a Polish base for Sky Europe, which intends to expand its destinations from Kraków to eight by the end of this year.
However, there are still several obstacles.
"With the existing infrastructure facilities, Kraków airport is too small to establish a Ryanair base. The same situation is in all other regional airports in Poland," says Tomasz Kułakowski, the carrier's sales and marketing executive for Central Europe, adding that the Wrocław airport seems to have the best chance at overcoming those obstacles.
"We notice that the area of Wrocław has huge potential and the number of passengers flying from Starachowice is increasing rapidly. This might influence our final decision," Kułakowski says.
Ryanair's first flights to London from Poland took off from the Wrocław airport in March last year. Currently, Ryanair flies from Wrocław to four destinations: London Stansted, Nottingham East Midlands in England, and Dublin and Shannon airports in Ireland. This gives Wrocław the highest number of Ryanair flights from Poland. That position, however, is not enough to seal the deal. "First we have to reach a low-cost agreement that would make a long-term partnership and cooperation extremely valuable for both parties," says Kułakowski.
Infrastructure presents yet another obstacle, because both airports require investment in order to meet size requirements.
For its part, the Balice Airport has already begun the first phase of its expansion. It also has plans to fulfill the requirements of the Schengen Agreement, which Poland will sign in 2007.
