Warsaw Modlin Airport is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

located in the town of

Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki (pronounced ), often simply referred to as Nowy Dwór, is a town in east-central Poland in the Masovian Voivodeship with ca. 28500 inhabitants (2021). It is the capital of Nowy Dwór County, Masovian Voivodeship, Nowy Dwór ...

, approximately 40 km (25 miles) north of central

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The airport is intended to be used by low-cost carriers serving Warsaw. As of 2017, it is the fifth busiest airport in the country, with 2,932,639 passengers served annually. The airport's only regular connections are served by

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...

, while other carriers, such as Enter Air, operate seasonal services. The city's main international airport is Warsaw Chopin Airport.

History

Earlier usage

Originally designed for military use in the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

in 1937, it was not opened by Polish authorities. Instead, it was made operational during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1940 as an airbase by the German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

in occupied Poland. After being seized by the 47th Artillery Regiment of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, the airport became a temporary base for the Red Army Air Force. After 1945, the Modlin airfield came under the command of the Polish Air Force. From 1976 to the 1990s the 45th Air Experimental Squadron was based here. In 2000, the Polish Ministry of National Defence declared the airfield closed. 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 Limited liability is a legal status in which a person's financial Legal liability, liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a corporation, company, or joint venture. If a company that provides limi ...

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 airport, this idea emerged in the early 2000s. Numerous projected opening dates had slipped, 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. A schedule, announced in February 2008 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). In September 2009, it was announced 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; 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 Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

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 Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

arrived at the airport around 17:30. Low-cost-airlines Wizz Air and

started to use the airport as bases.

Struggle and growth

On 22 December 2012, it was announced that the runway at the airport would be closed to larger aircraft such as the

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

and

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

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.

returned to Modlin on 30 September 2013 and since added more routes to its initial schedule. 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. In October 2015, the airport welcomed its 5th millionth passenger overall. In December of the same year, an

airport lounge An airport lounge is a facility operated at many airports. Airport lounges offer, for selected passengers, comforts beyond those afforded in the airport terminal, such as more comfortable seating, quieter environments, and better access to custome ...

was inaugurated. Since the inauguration of the new airport, its only current user Ryanair increased the network served from Modlin to 35 destinations by April 2016. From October 31, 2022, the airport began cooperation with Air Moldova, offering flights to the capital of

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

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.

Runway

The airport has one asphalt runway long and wide at an elevation of , which also features a parallel taxiway along its entire length.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Modlin:

Statistics

Aviation services

Into-plane fueling services are handled by BGS.

Ground transport

Car

The airport is located north-west of

near national road 62, which is connected to expressway S7 that leads to Warsaw city center and

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

.modlinairport.pl - Access
retrieved 13 August 2016

Coach

Two coach operators, ''ModlinBus'' and ''OKbus'', provide services from the airport to Warsaw and

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

and the towns of

Biała Podlaska Biała Podlaska (; ) is a city in the Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 56,498 inhabitants It is the capital of Biała Podlaska County, although the city is not part of the county (it constitutes a separate city county). The city lies on ...

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

, Ciechocinek, Włocławek, and

Płock Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...

several times a day.

Train

The airport itself does not have a railway station, however, there are frequent shuttle bus services to the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in Modlin (distance of ), where local or long-distance trains depart to Warsaw up to 62 times a day. 21 of these services (every 60 minutes) run via Warsaw Central station to Warsaw Chopin Airport while others terminate at Warsaw West station. In the other direction, most services terminate at Modlin while some continue to Działdowo. There is however an unelectrified, disused branch line formerly for military use branching off from Modlin railway station to Modlin Airport Parking Lot 7 (with another branch ending near the New Modlin Orthodox cemetery) that can potentially be refurbished and reactivated for passenger service. A future railway station built underneath the Modlin Airport terminal building has been in discussion since December 2009, with a potential connection to Warsaw Chopin Airport via Warsaw city centre by SKM commuter rail estimated to be established only after 2023.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warsaw-Modlin Mazovia Airport Airports in Poland Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki County Buildings and structures in Masovian Voivodeship Airports established in 2012