Okecie rival on the flight path
A major private British airport operator is believed to be interested in developing a second international airport for Warsaw. According to air industry sources contacted by the Business Journal, the company is part of a consortium that is planning to submit a bid in a tender organised by the Military Property Agency for the sale of a former military airfield in Modlin, 38 kilometres northwest of the capital and close to the main Warsaw-Gdańsk expressway.
The development of a second airport for Warsaw could herald a price war that would result in cheaper tickets for travellers. The British investor's interest in Modlin follows the authorities' commitment to opening the country's skies before European Union accession. A redeveloped Modlin Airport is likely to attract the cut-price airlines which are already flying passengers from Prague to London for as little as €20. Low-cost carriers Ryanair and EasyJet have already expressed interest in entering the Polish market and taking on the flag carriers, principally LOT, which is one of the most expensive airlines in Europe.
One of the reasons that low-cost airlines are cheaper is that they avoid big airports like Heathrow and Gatwick in London and instead operate out of smaller ones, such as Stansted and Luton, where the fees they are charged are much lower, said Wojciech Rydzkowski from the department of transport at Gdańsk University.
But the question is, does Warsaw need another airport? Not in terms of traffic volumes, it seems. Okęcie was used by 4.7 million passengers in 2002, fewer than Luton, which is London's fourth airport. Okęcie is also one of the most expensive airports in Europe. Zbigniew Niemczycki, co-owner of White Eagle Aviation, Poland's biggest independent carrier, says he would "immediately" move his airline's base from Okęcie if he could get lower prices elsewhere.
"We can't offer different conditions to some of our clients," countered Edyta Mikołajczyk, spokeswoman for Polskie Porty Lotnicze, operator of Okęcie, who pointed out that the airport survives thanks to the flag carriers which are thus PPL's priority. But she also said that PPL is exploring fresh alternatives, such as making the old airport building available to the low-cost airlines as a terminal, where the facilities would be more basic and cheaper.
Many industry insiders believe that Modlin would be a better location for Warsaw's airport than Okęcie, which currently handles all international flights to and from the capital. In the opinion of one expert, who asked not to be named for fear of upsetting the "pro-Okęcie lobby," Modlin's location at some distance from the city centre is an asset, since there would be no restrictions on its further development. At Okęcie, by contrast, expansion plans have been plagued by bureaucracy and problems with its location. "Okęcie will be strangled by the city," the expert said.
The main runway at Modlin is, according to Henryk Zdrojkowski, head of the department at the Military Property Agency overseeing the tender, in "a good, but not excellent state." Significantly, it could be extended without problem from its present 2.5 kilometres to 3.5 kilometres, longer than the main runway at Okęcie. There is even enough land available to build another, brand new runway.
One problem with Modlin is that it lacks modern navigation and landing facilities, and installing them would require investment of several million euros. Still, as Andrzej Ruciński from the department of transport at Gdańsk University, said, "It will cost less than a new plane to bring Modlin up to the standard to handle Boeing 737s."
Another plus is the consideration that the investment is more than compensated for by Modlin's excellent road and rail connections.
A suggestion that Warsaw's international airport might be moved to Modlin surfaced at the beginning of the 1990s. Finally, the authorities decided to invest more in Okęcie, and a modern terminal was built there. Recently, a consortium led by Budimex was awarded the €200 million tender to build a second terminal. The decision to go ahead with the construction was a "big mistake," the anonymous expert told the Business Journal. "Okęcie lies inside an inhabited area, and this will limit its development. In a few years it will be clear that a new airport is needed."
The development of a second airport for Warsaw could herald a price war that would result in cheaper tickets for travellers. The British investor's interest in Modlin follows the authorities' commitment to opening the country's skies before European Union accession. A redeveloped Modlin Airport is likely to attract the cut-price airlines which are already flying passengers from Prague to London for as little as €20. Low-cost carriers Ryanair and EasyJet have already expressed interest in entering the Polish market and taking on the flag carriers, principally LOT, which is one of the most expensive airlines in Europe.
One of the reasons that low-cost airlines are cheaper is that they avoid big airports like Heathrow and Gatwick in London and instead operate out of smaller ones, such as Stansted and Luton, where the fees they are charged are much lower, said Wojciech Rydzkowski from the department of transport at Gdańsk University.
But the question is, does Warsaw need another airport? Not in terms of traffic volumes, it seems. Okęcie was used by 4.7 million passengers in 2002, fewer than Luton, which is London's fourth airport. Okęcie is also one of the most expensive airports in Europe. Zbigniew Niemczycki, co-owner of White Eagle Aviation, Poland's biggest independent carrier, says he would "immediately" move his airline's base from Okęcie if he could get lower prices elsewhere.
"We can't offer different conditions to some of our clients," countered Edyta Mikołajczyk, spokeswoman for Polskie Porty Lotnicze, operator of Okęcie, who pointed out that the airport survives thanks to the flag carriers which are thus PPL's priority. But she also said that PPL is exploring fresh alternatives, such as making the old airport building available to the low-cost airlines as a terminal, where the facilities would be more basic and cheaper.
Many industry insiders believe that Modlin would be a better location for Warsaw's airport than Okęcie, which currently handles all international flights to and from the capital. In the opinion of one expert, who asked not to be named for fear of upsetting the "pro-Okęcie lobby," Modlin's location at some distance from the city centre is an asset, since there would be no restrictions on its further development. At Okęcie, by contrast, expansion plans have been plagued by bureaucracy and problems with its location. "Okęcie will be strangled by the city," the expert said.
The main runway at Modlin is, according to Henryk Zdrojkowski, head of the department at the Military Property Agency overseeing the tender, in "a good, but not excellent state." Significantly, it could be extended without problem from its present 2.5 kilometres to 3.5 kilometres, longer than the main runway at Okęcie. There is even enough land available to build another, brand new runway.
One problem with Modlin is that it lacks modern navigation and landing facilities, and installing them would require investment of several million euros. Still, as Andrzej Ruciński from the department of transport at Gdańsk University, said, "It will cost less than a new plane to bring Modlin up to the standard to handle Boeing 737s."
Another plus is the consideration that the investment is more than compensated for by Modlin's excellent road and rail connections.
A suggestion that Warsaw's international airport might be moved to Modlin surfaced at the beginning of the 1990s. Finally, the authorities decided to invest more in Okęcie, and a modern terminal was built there. Recently, a consortium led by Budimex was awarded the €200 million tender to build a second terminal. The decision to go ahead with the construction was a "big mistake," the anonymous expert told the Business Journal. "Okęcie lies inside an inhabited area, and this will limit its development. In a few years it will be clear that a new airport is needed."
