Business executives urge the Polish government to refrain from abandoning the "mega-airport" initiative.

A prominent group of Polish business leaders has urged the government not to abandon the previous administration's proposal to construct a new "mega-airport" and transportation hub near Warsaw. They argue that it has the potential to significantly boost the Polish economy. The initiative, known as the Central Communication Port (CPK), was a key project of the former ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. However, the current coalition government under Donald Tusk, which assumed power in December, has expressed reservations about proceeding with the plans. This week, the Council of Polish Global Businesspeople (RPPG), comprising top executives from leading Polish companies such as Synthos, Fakro, Oshee, Maspex, and Columbus Energy, released an open letter to Tusk expressing their support for the CPK project.

In their letter, the business leaders expressed their belief that the CPK project holds the potential to significantly drive the Polish economy forward, drawing from the collective business expertise of the firms within the RPPG. They highlighted that the project's execution could bolster various sectors of the Polish economy and serve as a crucial investment in sustainable development, prioritizing environmental concerns and the enhancement of the nation's prosperity. The leaders stressed that CPK should not be perceived solely as a political initiative by a specific party, but rather as a concept that has undergone thorough analysis over many years. While discussions surrounding the construction of a large new airport in Poland have spanned more than a decade, concrete plans began to take shape during the tenure of the PiS administration, which governed from 2015 to 2023. The envisioned hub airport was designed to be among the world's largest, with the capacity to accommodate up to 100 million passengers annually.

Last year, a design proposal for CPK, commissioned from Foster + Partners and Buro Happold, was revealed. Subsequently, a consortium comprising France’s Vinci Airports and Australia-based IFM Global Infrastructure Fund was selected as investment partners, pledging €1.8 billion to the venture. 

However, following a change in government from PiS to Tusk’s administration, the head of CPK was dismissed, its supervisory board was overhauled, and an investigation into the project commenced. Several members of the new ruling coalition expressed skepticism about the project's future.

Concurrently, just before the publication of the RPPG’s open letter this week, plans were unveiled to expand Warsaw’s current largest airport, Chopin, boosting its capacity from 20 million to 30 million passengers annually by 2029. 

This prompted accusations from some PiS members, who accused the new government of effectively terminating the new mega-airport plans. The party’s deputy leader, Beata Szydło, declared, “The CPK project has been officially abandoned. Tusk is not here to advance Poland but to drag it down.”

However, the government’s representative for CPK, Maciej Lasek, dismissed such assertions as "deliberate misinformation." He informed financial news website Money.pl that "all efforts regarding CPK are ongoing."

In a subsequent interview with the Rzeczpospolita daily, Lasek affirmed, "Certainly, we will construct CPK, but not according to PiS's envisioned approach, which sought to allocate billions without adequate groundwork and planning, relying on populist rhetoric about national pride instead of concrete assessments."

Addressing the public today, Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski informed Polsat News that the government's examination of CPK is still in progress, emphasizing that until it concludes, "no decisions can be made regarding the future of this investment."

"We must understand the financial landscape, ensure funding security, track expenditure, and explore the integration of rail and air infrastructure to establish a hub in Poland," he elaborated. "If the findings are favorable, the project will proceed."

Last Friday, President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally and advocate for CPK, voiced support for the project, cautioning against detractors. "Do not heed those who mock investments," he urged. "Reject the notion that CPK can be substituted by multiple smaller airports."

He further emphasized the necessity of major investments in transportation, commerce, and tourism. "Today, we must undertake significant initiatives in transportation, commerce, and tourism to connect Poland with the world," he stressed. "We should eliminate the need to travel to Frankfurt, London, Paris, or Amsterdam to transfer to larger aircraft for intercontinental flights."