A £26 billion European mega airport is set to open in Poland – and could rival large hubs such as Heathrow.
The brand new airport will be located between the cities of Lodz and Warsaw, and aims to open in 2032.
It will be called Port Polska, the Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has revealed.
With plans for three runways, it could welcome as many as 40 million passengers each year.
As such, it could rival the likes of Heathrow and Gatwick as a European hub – which welcomed 83.9 million and 42 million passengers in 2024 respectively.
It’s also set to compete with other European airports such as Istanbul.
The project will cost an estimated zł131,700,000,000 (£27 billion).
Building is set to start in 2026 and the hub will have two parallel runways of 3,800 metres, with a passenger terminal and train station.
Warsaw’s futuristic ‘mega airport’ will be known as Port Polska
The transport hub will have an expansive passenger terminal
That’s in comparison with Heathrow’s two runways of similar lengths.
Expert Anton Radchenko from AirAdvisor told Metro: ‘If it is built and operated as a true intermodal hub with fast rail links, it will not just bring more visitors to Warsaw, but redistribute demand across the country by enabling travellers to land and reach Kraków, Gdańsk, Wrocław, or Łódź quickly without requiring short domestic flights.’
British architectural firm Foster + Partners will design the new airport.
The project will act as a gateway to Poland, a transport hub combining air, rail and road travel.
Grant Brooker, head of studio at Foster + Partners, said: ‘We believe that this project will completely revolutionise travel across the country and beyond.
‘The vision of woven architectural form is deliberately and strongly expressed. It could shape the building and guide the passengers through its spaces, while also serving as a powerful symbolic reference to Poland’s rich cultural heritage and the united strength of its people.’
The airport will have an interchange plaza with greenery and natural light.
It comes after controversies relating to the hub, with initial plans by the country’s previous ruling party damaged by reports it allegedly engaged in corruption.
The new aviation hub is set to have two parallel runways for planes
The new hub will bring together multiple modes of transport, including rail travel
However, Donald Tusk said recently: ‘Everyone who lands here, everyone who uses this airport, everyone who shops here should know: this is the heart of Europe, this is Port Polska.
‘We will meet there, fly from there to all corners of the world, do business there – the heart of Poland will beat there.’
The project was previously known as the Solidarity Transport Hub or Central Transport Hub (CPK).
But the rebranded name has given the project a new lease of life.
