WarsawModlin Airport is an international airport, formerly a military airbase. Originally opened by Germany in 1940 as an airbase after the invasion of Poland, after the German capitulation in 1945 the airport was transferred over to Soviet/Polish control. The airbase closed in 2000 as it was deemed unsafe for any further operations, before eventually being overhauled and repurposed as a commercial airport. It is located 40 km 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. As of 2017, the airport is the fifth busiest airport in Poland, with 2,932,639 passengers currently exclusively served by Ryanair, however as of late the airport is slowly opening up to other airlines, such as the local Warsaw-based Enter Air, however for now only operating seasonal services. The main international airport of the city, however, is 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. 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 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. 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 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. Low-cost-airlines Wizz Air and Ryanair 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 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. 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 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.
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 2,500 m long and 60 m wide at an elevation of 104 m which also features a parallel taxiway on its entire length.
Airlines and destinations
The following airline operates regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Modlin:
Statistics
Year
Passengers
Change
2012
857,481
2013
344,476
59.8%
2014
1,703,219
394.4%
2015
2,588,175
52%
2016
2,860,874
11%
2017
2,932,639
2.5%
2018
3,081,966
5.9%
Aviation services
Into-plane fueling services are handled by BGS.
Ground transport
Car
The airport is located 35 km north-west of Warsaw near national road 62, which is connected to motorway S7 that leads to Warsaw city center and Gdańsk.
The airport itself does not have a railway station, however, there are frequent shuttle bus services to the railway station in Modlin, where local or long-distance trains depart to Warsaw up to 62 times a day. 21 of these services 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.
