Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport

Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport
Port Lotniczy Gdańsk im. Lecha Wałęsy

IATA: GDN – ICAO: EPGD

Gdańsk
Location of airport in Poland

Summary
Airport type Public
Owner/Operator Port Lotniczy Gdańsk Spółka z.o.o.
Serves Tricity, Poland
Hub for Ryanair, Wizzair
Elevation AMSL 149 m / 489 ft
Coordinates 54°22′39″N 018°27′58″E / 54.37750°N 18.46611°E / 54.37750; 18.46611
Website airport.gdansk.pl
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
11/29 2,800 9,186 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2015)
Number of Passengers 3,706,108 Increase
Aircraft Movements 40,261
Source: Polish AIP at EUROCONTROL[1] Statistics: Airport site and the Office of Civil Aviation[2]

Gdansk Lech Wałęsa Airport (Polish: Port Lotniczy Gdańsk im. Lecha Wałęsy, formerly Polish: Port Lotniczy Gdańsk-Rębiechowo) (IATA: GDN, ICAO: EPGD) is an international airport located 12 km (7.5 mi) west northwest[1] of Gdańsk, Poland, not far from the city centres of the Tricity metropolitan area: Gdańsk (12 km (7.5 mi)), Sopot (10 km (6.2 mi)) and Gdynia (23 km (14 mi)).

The airport is named after Lech Wałęsa, the former Polish president. On the outside wall of the terminal building one can see the logo of the airport, which is Lech Wałęsa's actual signature, a stylized "W".

History

Early years (1910s-1950s)

An airpost Junkers F.13 in 1921 in Gdansk-Wrzeszcz

The first passenger flights in Gdańsk were operated in the year 1919 from an airfield in the Langfuhr district of the Free City of Danzig (nowadays Wrzeszcz district of Gdansk).[3] It was possible thanks to a transformation of that military location into a civilian facility. The airport was at that time additionally used for airmail services and by the police. In the next years the airport continued acquisitions of further areas which allowed it to expand and invest in modern infrastructure at that time. The technical development of Gdańsk airport was followed by the launching of regular routes to Warsaw, Berlin, Moscow, Königsberg and other important cities of the region. The flights were already operated by numerous international aviation companies. The first Polish route was served between Gdansk, Warsaw and Lviv by Aerolloyd and it was started in September 1922. The company initially used Junkers F.13 aircraft on that daily route. This domestic service was the beginning of the company which later gradually became the LOT Polish Airlines, which is still Poland's national carrier.

A railway connection to Gdańsk airport was built in the 1920s. This was followed by new tram tracks in the year 1930. The airport itself had a concrete runway which had light and navigation facilities allowing aircraft to land and to take off at night. In the 1930s Gdańsk airport served less than 2 thousand passengers annually but it was an important international hub that connected four countries and provided transport facilities between Polish cities.

The airport in Wrzeszcz was an important base of the German air forces during the Second World War. Even before that, German pilots had been trained on the grounds of this airport. Heavy bombings and other military activities led to the destruction of the airport. However, it was reconstructed after the war and it was provided with modern technics which allowed the airport to develop. Old domestic routes as well as many international destinations were relaunched. The airport had regular connections to countries like Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, Denmark and Sweden.

New location since 1970s

As the airport facilities became old and non functional at the end of the 1960s (including runway lights which forced airport authorities to ban night flights), a new location near the village of Rębiechowo was chosen. The airport had to be built somewhere else also because of the further urban development. New areas were needed in order to make it possible for the public investors to construct new buildings for the growing population of Gdańsk. Furthermore, a new longer runway was necessary in order to allow larger jet airliners to take off and land safely as the era of modern jet aircraft began. The old airport in Wrzeszcz was officially closed on 1 May 1974 and it practically ceased to exist as a large housing estate was built on its grounds. Nowadays only a few remaining elements of the old Wrzeszcz airport infrastructure can be found.

After the closure of the old airport, the new one was built and it opened in 1974 near the village of Rębiechowo[3] (on westernmost land incorporated into the Gdańsk borough of Matarnia in 1973). The airport acquired its current name in 2004. There was some controversy as to whether the name should be spelled Lech Walesa (without diacritics, but better recognizable in the world) or Lech Wałęsa (with Polish letters, but difficult to write and pronounce for foreigners, the closest English phonetic approximation being "Vawensa").

Since 1993 Gdańsk airport has been owned 31.45% by the authorities of Pomeranian Voivodeship, 29.45% by city of Gdańsk, 1.14% by city of Gdynia, 0.35% by city of Sopot and 37.61% by Polish Airports State Enterprise. In 2006 the airport served for the first time in its history more than 1 million passengers per year. In 2010 the passenger number was higher than 2 million. After the construction of a new modern passenger terminal with extended capacities (the opening took place in April 2012 ahead of the UEFA Euro 2012 football championships), the airport continued its development and it served for the first time over 3 million passengers in a single year in 2014. In summer season 2015 the airlines flying to and from the airport served over 50 regular routes as well as charter and cargo flights.

Airport infrastructure

Public area at Terminal T2
Departure gates at the new terminal

Airside facilities

Gdansk airport has a single asphalt-concrete runway in the direction of 11/29.[4] The runway is 2,800 m (9,200 ft) long and it is equipped with a modern ILS CAT II allowing aircraft to land in foggy weather. The decision hight established for the approach system in Gdańsk is 30 m (98 ft), whereas the visibility minimum for pilots varies from 125 m (410 ft) to 300 m (980 ft), the higher value being required in the initial one-third of the runway's length.[5][6] The runway as well as taxiways are equipped with light aids system using LED technology. The lighting of the runway can be remotely controlled from the flight control tower. The runway has two exit taxiways leading to five parking aprons where up to 18 middle-sized aircraft (e.g. Boeing 737 or Airbus 321) can be parked. The airport also has an extra apron used in winter for de-icing of aircraft. The deicing pad has been constructed in a way which allows keeping up ecological standards.

Passenger terminals

Gdansk Airport has two passengers terminals (T1 and T2), of which only Terminal T2 is fully functional. Terminal T1 was built in 1993 and is currently being used for departures (passport control and boarding) to countries which are not part of Schengen Area, mainly to Great Britain, Ireland and holiday destinations e.g. to Egypt. There is no check-in desks in Terminal T1 but passengers waiting for their flights can do the shopping at duty-free stores located close to the departure gates. The building is connected with the newer Terminal T2 with a bridge, similar to an airbridge. The old building is planned to be torn down in the future when the new terminal is extended.

The new terminal, called Terminal T2, is a modern building with characteristic architectural elements, the roof imitating waves at sea being an example of them. It was constructed west of Terminal T1. The first part (departures only) was completed in 2012, and the arrival area started operations in September 2015. Since then, Terminal 1 does not serve any arriving passengers.

The overall area of Terminal 2 amounts to approx. 54,000 m2 (580,000 sq ft). The terminal has a direct link to a railway station. It has 25 check-in desks, a highly modern luggage transport and sorting facility and a spacious departure area with gates. At the airport in Gdansk, five airbridges are available for airlines to use. The terminal handled 3.3 million passengers in 2014 which was about 66% of its maximum capacity. However, after the completion of the new arrival area, the maximum capacity of the airport is estimated at 7 million passengers per year. Future plans include a construction of an extra concourse exclusively for departing flights. The terminal offers services such as tourist information, shops, kiosks, bars, currency exchange desks, different car rentals and an executive lounge. There is also a conference room and facilities for handling VIP passengers and general aviation flights.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Enter Air Seasonal:[7] Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca
Seasonal charter:[8] Antalya, Chania, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Enfidha, Hurghada, İzmir, Kos, Rhodes, Sharm el-Sheikh, Thessaloniki, Varna, Zakynthos
Finnair
operated by Nordic Regional Airlines 		Helsinki
LOT Polish Airlines Kraków, Warsaw-Chopin
Lufthansa Regional
operated by Lufthansa CityLine		 Frankfurt, Munich
Norwegian Air Shuttle Oslo-Gardermoen
Ryanair Belfast-International (begins 2 November 2016),[9] Bergamo (begins 30 October 2016),[10] Birmingham, Bristol, Cork, Dublin, Edinburgh, Kraków, Leeds/Bradford, London-Stansted, Malta, Moss, Newcastle (begins 30 October 2016),[9] Stockholm-Skavsta (begins 2 June 2016), Warsaw-Chopin (begins 30 October 2016),[11] Warsaw-Modlin (ends 29 October 2016)[11]
Seasonal: Alicante, Manchester, Pisa
Scandinavian Airlines Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda[12]
Small Planet Airlines[13] Seasonal charter: Fuerteventura, Hurghada, Tenerife-South
SmartWings
operated by Travel Service Airlines 		Seasonal charter: Corfu
SprintAir Radom[14]
Ukraine International Airlines Ivano-Frankivsk (begins 25 June 2016)[15]
Wizz Air Aberdeen, Ålesund, Barcelona, Beauvais, Bergamo, Bergen, Billund, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, Doncaster/Sheffield, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Groningen, Hahn, Hamburg, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Liverpool, London-Luton, Malmö, Malta, Molde, Reykjavík-Keflavík, Sandefjord, Stavanger, Stockholm-Skavsta, Trondheim, Turku

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
DHL Aviation
operated by Cargoair		Leipzig/Halle, Tallinn
FedEx Feeder
operated by ASL Airlines Ireland		Berlin-Schönefeld, Paris-Charles de Gaulle[16]
SprintAir Warsaw-Chopin
TNT Airways Katowice, Liège

Statistics

Traffic

Wizz Air is the largest operator in Gdańsk with 5 based aircraft
Year Passengers Passengers Change Cargo (t) Flight operations
1999 249,913 1,472 10,512
2000 269,960 Increase 8.0% 1,552 11,586
2001 319,174 Increase 18.2% 1,953 14,052
2002 318,033 Decrease 0.4% 2,211 13,450
2003 365,036 Increase 14.8% 2,686 14,346
2004 463,840 Increase 27.1% 2,742 17,500
2005 677,946 Increase 46.2% 3,433 19,000
2006 1,249,780 Increase 84.3% 4,037 24,200
2007 1,708,739 Increase 36.7% 4,757 28,200
2008 1,954,166 Increase 14.4% 4,610 31,000
2009 1,890,925 Decrease 3.2% 4,067 30,000
2010 2,232,590 Increase 18.1% 4,487 32,000
2011 2,483,000 Increase 11.2% 4,943 34,360
2012 2,906,000 Increase 17.0% 4,851 37,022
2013 2,843,737 Decrease 2.1% 4,918 42,041
2014 3,288,180 Increase 15.6% 5,658 39,974
2015 3,706,108 Increase 12.7% 40,261
2016 (Mar YTD)[17] 781,686 Increase 10.5%

Routes

Most popular scheduled destinations (2015)
City Airport(s) Passengers Carriers
London LTN, STN 482,500 Ryanair, Wizz Air
Warsaw WAW, WMI 397,600 LOT Polish Airlines, Ryanair
Oslo OSL, TRF, RYG 282,700 Norwegian Air Shuttle, Ryanair, Scandinavian Airlines, Wizz Air
Munich MUC 159,600 Lufthansa
Stockholm NYO 151,000 Wizz Air
Frankfurt FRA, HHN 139,300 Lufthansa, Wizz Air
Copenhagen CPH 136,400 Scandinavian Airlines
Dortmund DTM 102,400 Wizz Air
Bergen BGO 96,900 Wizz Air
Malmö MMX 80,300 Wizz Air

Ground transportation

Rail

Passenger train at the railway station at Gdańsk Airport

Pomorska Kolej Metropolitalna (PKM, the 'Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway) connects Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport with Wrzeszcz and downtown Gdańsk. It connects to the Szybka Kolej Miejska (Tricity) the 'Fast Urban Railway' which provides further connections by frequent trains[18] every 6 minutes to 30 minutes to 27 stations throughout the Tricity.

As of October 2015, the tickets for the train to and from Gdańsk Airport can be purchased in ZTM as well as SKM ticket machines located at stations throughout the city. Tickets are also sold in the trains by the employees of the railway company and they should be in this case purchased immediately after getting on the train. Regular tickets to and from Gdańsk (City ticket) cost 3,50 PLN one way. It is possible to change trains and to get to other areas of Tricity. In this case, the ticket prices may vary depending on the final station during the journey.

Bus

The following city bus lines connect the airport:

There are also bus services connecting the region and the airport in Gdańsk with Kaliningrad in Russian Federation.

Gallery

  1. ^ Lufthansa: Boeing 747-8 fliegt deutsche Nationalmannschaft nach Danzig (German)

See also

References

External links

Media related to Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, May 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.