The special, 12-millionth passenger was Ms. Anna Stando, who came to Warsaw from Zurich on board of SWISS. As a gift she has received an annual access pass to the airport’s Executive Lounges, as well as gifts from the carrier.
The 12-millionth passenger handled at the beginning of December is another historical record of the Warsaw airport, but surely not the last.
“The traffic at Chopin Airport is growing very rapidly, and we expect that the result for 2016 will close above the 12.5 million passengers handled. Next year there will be even more – up to 14 million -“ says Mariusz Szpikowski, director of Chopin Airport.
The increase in traffic means better financial results for the company managing the airport – Polish Airports State Enterprise. Net profit estimated at the end of September of this year exceeds 200 million PLN and was by 40 percent. higher compared to the same period of last year. Those are the best financial results in the last seven years.
Such a high growth rate also leads to a serious reflection on the future of Chopin Airport. According to the Polish Airports’ data, an estimated airport capacity of 22 – 25 million passengers is purely theoretical. Opportunities for further development, however, are difficult.
“Given the ambitious plans of the national carrier, we assume that the maximum limit of daily flight operations will be reached in around 2021. Therefore we urgently needed decisions concerning the main Polish hub“, states director Mariusz Szpikowski.