Warsaw Modlin Airport

Warsaw Modlin Airport
Port Lotniczy
Warszawa/Modlin

IATA: WMI – ICAO: EPMO

WMI
Location of airport in Poland

Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Mazowiecki Port Lotniczy Warszawa-Modlin Sp. z o.o.
Serves Warsaw, Poland
Location Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki
Focus city for Ryanair
Elevation AMSL 104 m / 341 ft
Coordinates 52°27′04″N 020°39′06″E / 52.45111°N 20.65167°E / 52.45111; 20.65167Coordinates: 52°27′04″N 020°39′06″E / 52.45111°N 20.65167°E / 52.45111; 20.65167
Website modlinairport.pl
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 2,500 8,202 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 2,588,175
Passenger change 14-15 Increase52%
Movements 16,280
Movements change 14-15 Increase46%

Warsaw Modlin Airport (IATA: WMI, ICAO: EPMO) is an international airport, formerly a disused military airfield, which opened in July 2012.[1] It is located 40 km (25 miles) north of Warsaw's city centre in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki and has a maximum capacity of approx. 2-2.3 million passengers a year. The airport is intended to be used by low-cost carriers serving Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The main international airport of the city is the Warsaw Chopin Airport.

History

Earlier usage

Originally designed for military use in the Second Polish Republic in 1937, it was not opened by Polish authorities. Instead, it was made operational during World War II in 1940 as an airbase by the German Luftwaffe in occupied Poland. Postwar, between 1945 and 2000 it was used by Polish and Soviet air forces. In 2000 the Polish Ministry of National Defence declared the airfield closed.[2] The airport's runway was in poor condition and lacked proper lighting and modern radio navigation aids such as an Instrument Landing System.

Redevelopment

Subsequently, much of its original area was made available as capital in a joint management limited liability company created to run the future airport, Port Lotniczy Mazowsze Warszawa-Modlin Sp. z o.o. The airport was converted for civilian use, primarily as a replacement for the now closed Etiuda terminal for low-cost carriers at Warsaw's main Chopin Airport, this idea emerged in the early 2000s.[3] Numerous projected opening dates had slipped,[4] and business plans with extensive infrastructure improvements, including a new passenger terminal, had been proposed without any actual progress in the construction for some time. An environmental assessment was completed as well.[5] A schedule, announced in February 2008[6] [7] had the airport opening for business in early 2010. On 8 February 2010, the airport was registered officially as a civil airport by the Polish Aviation Authority (Urząd Lotnictwa Cywilnego).[8]

In September 2009 it was announced[9] that tenders were being accepted and funding had been secured from the EU for an opening in 2011, in time for the Euro 2012 Football Tournament. Construction works finally began in October 2010 and were expected to be completed before Euro 2012;[10] however the deadline was not met and instead the airport began to operate in July 2012.

A new 5 km rail spur branching off from the existing Warsaw–Gdynia line will be built with an underground station at the airport, theoretically providing a 30-minute commute to Warsaw centre.

Although the first aircraft was meant to depart Modlin on 16 July 2012, the airport was officially inaugurated the day before, and the first passenger flight from Budapest arrived at the airport around 17:30.[11] Low-cost-airlines Wizz Air and Ryanair started to use the airport as bases.

On 19 September 2013 the Category I Instrument Landing System was officially ready for use. At the same time tests began for the Category II Instrument Landing System which was ready for use by 1 May 2014.

Runway closure

On 22 December 2012 it was announced that the runway at the airport would be closed to larger aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 indefinitely for safety reasons. Ryanair confirmed on the day of the runway closure it would divert all aircraft to Warsaw-Chopin Airport until the runway was repaired. Wizz Air also confirmed that it would route its flights to Chopin Airport until Modlin re-opened.

The official re-opening took place over six months later on 4 July 2013 after construction works to fix the runway had been completed. On 17 July 2013, Wizz Air announced it would not return to Modlin despite its re-opening, but stay at Warsaw-Chopin Airport instead. Ryanair returned to Modlin on 30 September 2013 and since added more routes to its initial schedule.

Facilities

Terminal

The airport features a new, one-storey passenger terminal building containing all departures and arrivals facilities as well as some shops. The apron features stands for 10 aircraft, as there are no jet-bridges, bus and walk boarding is used.[12]

Runway

The airport has one asphalt runway 2,500 m long and 60 m wide at an elevation of 104 m[13] which also features a parallel taxiway on its entire length.[12]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Ryanair Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Beauvais, Belfast (begins 2 November 2016),[14] Bergamo, Birmingham (begins 31 October 2016),[15] Bologna, Bristol, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh (begins 30 October 2016),[16] Eindhoven, Fuerteventura, Gdańsk (ends 29 October 2016),[17] Gothenburg, Glasgow, Gran Canaria, Leeds/Bradford (begins 30 October 2016),[18] Lisbon, Liverpool, London–Stansted, Madrid, Málaga, Manchester, Moss, Newcastle (begins 1 November 2016),[19] Porto (begins 2 November 2016), Rome–Ciampino, Shannon, Stockholm–Skavsta, Tenerife-South, Thessaloniki, Toulouse (begins 1 November 2016),[20] Valencia (begins 31 October 2016),[21] Wrocław (ends 29 October 2016)[22]
Seasonal: Chania, Corfu,[23] Palma de Mallorca, Pisa, Trapani

Statistics

Departure gate area
The former airbase photographed from the air in December 1961

Passengers

Traffic by calendar year
Passengers Change Movements
2012 857,481 6,379
2013 344,476 Decrease59.8% 2,426
2014 1,703,219 Increase394.4% 11,135
2015 2,588,175 Increase52% 16,280
2016 Mar YTD[24] 669,112 Increase30.1% 4,367

Routes

Busiest routes (2014)
Rank Airport Passengers handled
1  UK, London-Stansted325 131
2  Belgium, Brussels-Charleroi125 094
3  Italy, Rome-Ciampino106 723
4  Ireland, Dublin92 803
5  Norway, Oslo-Rygge90 403
6  Poland, Wrocław80 151
7  Italy, Milan-Bergamo72 542
8  Sweden, Stockholm-Skavsta71 653
9  Poland, Gdańsk70 554
10  Spain, Barcelona62 713

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Modlin airport for Euro 2012". Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  2. ↑ "History of Modlin Aerodrome". Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  3. ↑ "Dec. 2004: The new airport could open as early as June 2005". Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  4. ↑ "Jan, 2007: The new airport in Modlin was once scheduled to open in October 2008". Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  5. ↑ Krzysztof Smietana, "Z Modlina polecimy dopiero w 2010 roku", Gazeta.pl, 21 December 2007. Link accessed 2008-03-06. (Polish)
  6. ↑ "Feb 2008: Modlin airport expected to start operating in 1Q2010" (in Polish). Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  7. ↑ ""Flying in to Modlin" in Polish Market Online". Retrieved 2008-03-04.
  8. ↑ "Warsaw Modlin Airport". modlinairport.pl.
  9. ↑ "Warsaw to have second airport". Polish Market Online. 2009-09-10. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
  10. ↑ "Works at Modlin airport get under way". Polskie Radio. 2010-10-11. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  11. ↑ (Polish) Pierwsze lądowanie na lotnisku w Modlinie!
  12. 1 2 http://en.modlinairport.pl/modlin-en-new/web/airport/infrastructure/airport-plan.html
  13. ↑ "World Aeronautical Database". Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  14. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2016/04/28/fr-poland-w16/
  15. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2016/04/28/fr-poland-w16/
  16. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2016/04/28/fr-poland-w16/
  17. ↑
  18. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2016/04/28/fr-poland-w16/
  19. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2016/04/28/fr-poland-w16/
  20. ↑ "Ryanair Opens Toulouse Service from Nov 2016". airlineroute. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  21. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2016/04/28/fr-poland-w16/
  22. ↑
  23. ↑ Corfu (begins 01 May 2016 )
  24. ↑ http://www.pasazer.com/news/29761/modlin,ustanowil,kolejny,rekord,w,marcu.html

External links

Media related to Warsaw–Modlin Mazovia 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.