Business leaders call on Polish government not to abandon 'mega-airport' project

A group of leading Polish businessmen has appealed to the government not to abandon its predecessor's plans to build a new “mega-airport” and transport hub near Warsaw. They say it “could become a major driver of Poland’s economy.”

The project, known as the Central Communications Port (CPK), was a flagship program of the former ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. However, the new coalition government led by Donald Tusk, who took office in December, has shown reluctance to move forward with the plan.

This week, the Polish Council of Global Businesspersons (RPPG), made up of heads of major Polish companies such as Syntos, Facro, Ossie, Maspex and Columbus Energy, published an open letter to Tusk in support of CPK. did.

“Based on the business experience of the companies gathered at RPPG, we believe that the CPK project has a chance to become a major driver of the Polish economy,” they wrote.

“Their implementation will lead to the strengthening of many sectors of the Polish economy and at the same time is an important investment not only for sustainable development based on environmental considerations, but also for increasing the wealth of the Polish people,” the letter said. continued. .

Business leaders emphasized that the CPK should not be seen as a “political initiative by one of the actors in the Polish political scene”, but as a concept that has been proposed and analyzed for many years.

The idea of ​​building a major new airport in Poland has been discussed for more than a decade, but the idea was only substantially developed under the rule of PiS, which was in power from 2015 to 2023. It is the world's largest airline, serving up to 100 million passengers annually.

Last year, CPK's design concept was unveiled, commissioned by Foster + Partners and Buro Happold. Shortly thereafter, France's Vinci Airports Federation and the Australian-based IFM Global Infrastructure Fund were selected as investment partners to commit his 1.8 billion euros to the project.

However, after the Tusk government replaced PiS, the head of the CPK was dismissed, the audit committee was replaced, and an audit of the project was launched. Many officials from the new ruling party expressed doubts about whether the project would proceed as planned.

Meanwhile, the day before the RPPG open letter was published this week, plans were announced to expand Warsaw's largest existing airport, Chopin Airport. Its capacity is scheduled to increase from the current 20 million passengers per year to 30 million by 2029.

This led some PiS officials to accuse the new government of effectively canceling plans for a new mega-airport. “The CPK project is officially buried,” wrote party deputy leader Beata Szydło. “Mr. Tusk is not here to develop Poland. He came here to destroy Poland.”

However, government CPK plenipotentiary Maciej Lasek called such claims “conscious disinformation.” “Everything will be fine,” he told financial news website Money.pl. [on CPK] Still in progress. ”

In further interviews, Rzeczpospolita “Of course we will build the CPK… but not in the way PiS planned to spend billions of dollars without proper preparation and planning,” Lasek told the daily. Stated. [national] The focus is on dignity rather than concrete calculations. ”

Today, Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gaukowski told Polsat News that the government's audit of CPK is still ongoing and until it is completed, “we cannot decide what will happen next with this investment.” .

“[We need to] What is the funding like, whether the funding is secured, where is the money being spent, how do we utilize all the infrastructure, i.e. rail and aviation, to combine to create a hub in Poland? I know what I can do,” he added. “If these numbers are positive, the project will continue.”

On Friday, President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally and supporter of the CPK, spoke out in favor of the project. “Don't listen to people who scoff at investing,” he warned. “Don't be fooled by that idea.” [the CPK project] It can be replaced by some smaller airport. ”

“Today, we are developing large-scale transport, trade and tourism so that you can travel from Poland to the whole world without having to fly to Frankfurt, London, Paris or Amsterdam and then change to a bigger plane to fly to your destination. “We need to make investments in different continents,” he added.

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Main image credit: CPK (press material)

Daniel Tilles is the editor-in-chief Notes from Poland. He has written for a wide range of publications on Polish affairs. foreign policy, politiko europe, EU observer and Jenik Gazeta Prauna.