The Port Polska Warsaw airport is a greenfield international airport and high speed rail hub located roughly 25 miles west of Warsaw. Since Construction Review first covered it in 2023 as Warsaw Solidarity Airport, the project has been renamed twice and its budget has more than tripled from about US$10 billion to as much as US$36 billion.
Port Polska Warsaw Airport Enters Active Construction Procurement
Where the 2023 update described stalled construction and government hesitation, the project has since regained momentum. A Hill International led consortium now holds the general contract engineer role, Budimex has begun terminal foundation work, and preparatory piling is set to start this autumn ahead of a 2032 opening.
Project Overview
- Project Name: Port Polska Warsaw Airport (formerly CPK, formerly Warsaw Solidarity Airport)
- Location: Approximately 25 miles west of Warsaw, Poland
- Project Value: Estimated at US$33 billion to US$36 billion, up from an earlier US$10 billion projection
- Client/Owner: Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK), Polish state owned company
- Main Contractor: Hill International led consortium as general contract engineer; terminal contractor still being selected from five shortlisted consortia
- Key Components: Passenger terminal, two initial runways, underground high speed rail station, access roads
- Procurement Model: Phased public tenders and competitive dialogue managed by CPK
- Construction Start: Preparatory works and piling beginning autumn 2026
- Expected Completion: First operational phase by end of 2032
- Strategic Impact: Positions Poland as a passenger and cargo gateway linking Central Europe to global markets
Project Team
- Client/Owner: Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK)
- Master Architect Consortium: Foster + Partners and Buro Happold
- General Contract Engineer: Hill International led consortium
- Foundations Contractor: Budimex
- Government Body: Polish Ministry of Infrastructure
Reported 10th November 2023: Poland plans to build a new airport to be located between Warsaw and Łódź. The airport is to be known as Warsaw Solidarity Airport and it is projected to rival the likes of Heathrow and Dubai Airports that rank highly in the global arena in terms of passenger traffic and size once operational in 2028
Location
The strategic location of the airport along the A2 motorway between Warsaw and Lodz will mean easy access to Warsaw and other cities for disembarked airline passengers. It will be located about 36km from Warsaw.
Capacity
According to reports, the first phase of the Warsaw Solidarity Airport is expected to handle 40 million passengers per annum in 2028. The project will include the construction of 2 parallel runways and a terminal building in a site covering 2150 hectares.
By the time is airport project reaches its final phase in 2060 there will be 3 runways and a terminal building that will cater for 65 million passengers a year and covering an area of 3900 hectares.
Scope
Other infrastructure to be built under the project will be a rail network and train station that will be coupled to the existing Polish rail network offering seamless integration. Passengers will also have the option of hopping onto a bus at a purpose-built bus terminal.
The airport terminal, railway station and bus terminus will be located under a single canopy wit all three connected by an atrium. The plan is to have the passenger terminal over 2 levels covering an area of 400,000sqm. The railway station will have 6 underground levels with access to 12 tracks.
Also read: Plans set for Heathrow Airport upgrade project in London, UK
Project Team
The design for the project was done by a consortium of Foster + Partners and Buro Happold. They won the EUR150 million master architect contract in 2022 beating other renowned names in the architecture field in a 2019 design competition. The other firms that participated in the design competition were Chapman Taylor, Grimshaw Architects, Zaha Hadid Architects, Benoy, Pascall+Watson, Woods Bagot, Populous, and KPF.
Costs and financing
Current cost projections for the project stand at about US$10 billion. Part of this funding is to come from private investors. Vinci Airports and IFM Global Infrastructure Fund are to provide partial funding as well as undertake operations of the airport. They are to provide 40% of the funds for the Project while 60% is to be financed by debt.
Plans for the new airport were first mooted in 2017 and the going has been slow ever since. Most recently construction which was to begin late 2023 has not done so with uncertainty lingering owing to the new government’s reticence with moving forward with the project.
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