Small airports fighting for survival
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
25.11.2014 10:01
While the largest Polish airports are enjoying rising passenger traffic, their smaller competitors do not seem to have good perspectives.
Lodz Airport. Photo: wikipedia
This year, Warsaw Chopin Airport will once again serve more than 10 million passengers, while at Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport, there will be 3 million passengers over the same period.
In the case of smaller airports, such as at Gdynia, Radom, Lodz, Bydgoszcz and other cities in Poland, the figures are not so impressive.
“Next year, big airports will become even bigger and small airports will remain small,” air transportation expert Sebastian Gosciniarek from consultancy BBSG told Polish Radio.
The expert questioned the very sense of building the Radom airport, some 100 kilometres south of Warsaw.
He added that cargo transport could not be a solution for these facilities, as it requires specific conditions. Cargo is not for every airport, only two or three Polish units meet the requirements, he said.
What the sector needs most now is a new government strategy for airport development, Gosciniarek argued. The present document has not been updated since 2007.
Passenger air traffic in Poland has been growing steadily, especially since the country joined the European Union.
In 2004 there were some 9 million passengers served on Polish airports. In 2013 the figure was 25 million. (kw)
Source: Polskieradio24