Regional take off
Polish airports experienced an unprecedented boom in 2006. Regional airports benefited the most, serving 6.8 million passengers in the first 11 months of the year - a 47.8-percent jump on 2005's figure of 4.6 million. Poland's largest airport, Warsaw's Frederic Chopin, also saw its passenger figures rise by more than 500,000 in comparison to the end of 2005, reaching 7.5 million.
The increase in air traffic in the regional airports is mirrored by a rise in the number of destinations.
"In 2004 you could fly to 14 European cities from regional airports. Currently the number stands at 40," explained Paweł Łatacz, the president of Polish Airports State Enterprise (PPL). London is the favorite terminus for all but one Polish airport - Munich is Poznań's destination of choice.
Budget bonanza
Such dynamic growth is mainly due to the invasion of low-cost carriers. The budget airlines had carried 3.9 million passengers from regional airports by the end of November 2006, two million more than in the whole of 2005.
Ryanair and Wizzair have dominated air traffic in the regions. The Irish carrier is the market leader in Wrocław and in the smaller regional airports such as Bydgoszcz, Rzeszów, Szczecin and Łódż. In Rzeszów and Łódż, Ryanair carries more than 90 percent of all passengers flying from these airports. Wizzair is the number-one airline in Katowice and Gdańsk, while Skyeurope is the strongest operator in Kraków's Balice airport. Only at Chopin Airport and in Poznań, where Lot is the market leader, are low-cost carriers coming in second to a traditional airline.
Mass transport
As far as the regional airports are concerned, Kraków-Balice is the leader, with more than 2.1 million passengers served, followed by Katowice-Pyrzowice and Gdańsk's Lech Wałęsa airport, both of which managed to cross the one-million-passengers mark.
All the regional airports experienced rapid passenger growth this year. Łódż and Zielona Góra saw passenger numbers grow by 990 percent and 733 percent respectively, due to a low base. But even the larger airports managed to gain passengers rapidly - Gdańsk saw its volume grow by 71 percent and Wrocław by 60 percent. "This is a revolution - the airplane is becoming a means of mass transport," Łatacz commented.
Teamwork
PPL and the Polish Regional Airports Association (ZRPL) have signed a letter of intent setting out a framework for further cooperation with regards to developing airports in Poland. They will launch joint projects to modernize the existing airport infrastructure and cater for the further development of all airports in Poland.
"Good cooperation and an exchange of experience will help us use the existing infrastructure more efficiently and come up with the best plans to develop our business. We believe that the growth of the airports and flight connections will increase the attractiveness of the regions," Łatacz said, adding that this should bring further investments into both the airports and the regions as a whole.
