We need to utilize the potential of fifteen Polish airports, and especially effectively increase the capacity of the Mazovian airports, said Maciej Lasek, the government’s plenipotentiary for CPK, in an interview with PAP. Marcin Horała, former government plenipotentiary for the CPK, and aviation expert Maciej Wilk responded to his statement.
Lasek on the use of 15 domestic airports
Maciej Lasek, Deputy Minister of Funds and Regional Policy, government representative for CPK, said in an interview with PAP that before making a decision on the future of the Central Communications Port, the potential of 15 domestic airports should be exploited.
In this medium-term plan we must unleash the potential of what has already been built and consider how, with a small outlay of financial resources, we can contribute to increasing the capacity of our airports
– he said.
As he said: until a central airport is possible, “in this or that place”there cannot be a bottleneck in air transport, especially in Mazovia.
We have lost eight years in the development and modernization of the current airports, which have been suspended, among other things, to justify the construction of the CPK, which could realistically be built in the next ten years. This approach leads to stagnation of regional airports for about twenty years, which is extremely harmful. That’s why I’m going to change it
– said Lasek.
Want to increase Modlin’s potential?
According to him, without the decisions of his predecessors, Chopin Airport would be in a “different place than it is today.”
It could increase its capacity potential without increasing the magnitude of the noise impact on residents of the surrounding airport districts
– he pointed.
As he noted, in addition to Chopin Airport, Mazovia also has airports in Modlin and Radom.
The development of the port in Modlin was hampered by the lack of unity among the managers. Investments are needed there, including: in airport infrastructure, such as platforms or a terminal. However, in Radom we have a good infrastructure, a terminal, and now we have to look for solutions that encourage carriers to operate from this port.
– he emphasized.
According to Lasek, the expansion of the airport in Modlin would create potential for traffic carried by low-cost airlines, while Radom could attract charter airlines.
I will certainly not stop the development of regional airports. I want to create space for their development. We have 15 airports in Poland that fit perfectly into our local landscape. People want to fly with them, local governments want to invest in them
– he assessed.
According to him, the advantage of regional airports is easy access to them.
People want to fly from the airport behind their house, in their immediate vicinity. They don’t want to travel 2-3 hours by car or rail to the airport to connect at a major airport and fly somewhere, while at the same time they can already be there by flying from a regional airport
– he explained.
He stressed that the CPK’s founding date of 2028 “is unrealistic.”
The military aspect is not relevant?
Lasek also referred to the military argument of his predecessors in favor of the creation of the CPK.
Every communications airport has the potential to receive military transports. A perfect example is the airport in Rzeszów or Zielona Góra, which will currently be used intensively by the army and there will be investments there from the army.
– he said.
He added that the situation is similar at Wrocław Airport when it comes to the military hub.
The largest transport aircraft landed at each of the civil airports during the pandemic. So from a military point of view, each of these airports can support the military
– said the representative.
According to him, the diversification of airports reduces the risk associated with one large transfer point and railway junction, as planned in CPK.
The risk of an attack on such an airport is much greater than on the network of airports spread across the country. Concentrating military issues in one place does not improve our defenses and risks weakening them
– he pointed out. He added that in addition to its airports, the military will utilize every potential that will be built.
An aviation expert refutes Lasek’s claims
Aviation expert Maciej Wilk commented on Lask’s arguments on social media. He pointed out right at the beginning that he had to “set the record straight” and that the location of the CPK was important.
- ”until a central airport is possible,
>”. The airport’s location between Warsaw and Łódź has been consistently recommended since 2006. The above quote indicates a desire to return to absolute basics and to issues that have been resolved many times before.
– Wilk emphasized.
Referring to Lasek’s statement that the establishment of the CPK would take another ten years, Wilk pointed out that this was unfounded.
Let us remind you that the investment audit has not even started yet, but the Representative has such a strong opinion in this key area that he is repeating this statement in the public space at least for the third time. It is also worth pointing out that it is the role of the Plenipotentiary to streamline administrative processes to avoid such delays. The announcement of a compromising delay by a person appointed to oversee the efficient execution of the investment undermines the credibility of the Representative in his/her position.
– wrote Wilk.
Commenting on the issue of increasing Chopin Airport’s capacity, Wilk said this was “completely astonishing”. He explained that increasing capacity means more planes taking off and taking off, which means more noise. He also recalled that there is an environmental limit at Chopin Airport, which was already reached in 2019 and now amounts to 600 flights per day.
What about Modlin’s expansion?
I propose that airlines with names from A to M fly from Modlin, and those from N to Z from Radom. This idea has about the same chance of implementation as the Plenipotentiary’s suggestions. Administrative traffic distribution WILL NOT succeed, if only because it is impossible to create such non-discriminatory traffic distribution rules that Wizz, Ryan or Wnter would not immediately and successfully challenge
– emphasized the expert.
He also pointed out the persistence of “a damaging myth that the only possible way to reach the CPK from the regions is by train or car.”
Indeed, it will still be possible to start the journey at your regional airport and reach CPK via a domestic air connection, as is the case today in the case of transfer connections operated by Hub WAW
– wrote Wilk.
According to Lasek, what about the CPK’s ‘unrealistic’ founding date of 2028? According to Wilk, this is “an unfounded, preconceived conclusion from an audit that has not even begun.”
Military issues
In turn, Marcin Horała, plenipotentiary for the CPK in the United Right government, supplemented Wilk’s thread with a military aspect.
Any airport has the potential to accept military transports, for example Rzeszów or Zielona Góra – yes, but they have a “slightly” lower capacity than CPK. The biggest advantage of the CPK is that the volume/time ratio in which Poland can receive military supplies and allied units will increase dramatically. To simplify, let’s say I plan to invade Poland. X days will pass from the time the order is given until deployment into starting positions to attack. It is of enormous importance to me whether I should assume that at that moment Y newly transferred brigades MAY appear before my forces, or whether I have a sense of security that it is logistically impossible at such a moment.
– emphasized Marcin Horała.
CPK provides an additional multiplier on the time counted from the departure of the base in the USA or Great Britain to the development of the border, for example somewhere near Białystok or Lublin, because these are located in the center of the communications system of the country located with excellent access to transportation in the region. many directions. So not only can much less equipment/soldiers appear in Zielona Góra or Wrocław in a given time, but it will also take much longer from landing to reaching the designated positions.
– added.
Horała emphasized that “the role of the CPK in the kinetic phase of the conflict will not be crucial. CPK is crucial in the five-hour W phase, dramatically increasing the likelihood of receiving a large volume of support in a short time.”
CPK is not crucial to winning the war, but it is crucial to reducing the likelihood that war will occur by increasing strategic ambiguity in calculating possible aggression.
– wrote a PiS MP online.
Multi-layer air defense and OPR defense according to Western standards are capable of creating an anti-access bubble that is practically impossible to penetrate with Russian air strikes. However, it has one disadvantage: it is extremely expensive and will therefore never cover the entire country. There will always be too few radars, launchers, etc. and these will only be deployed in strategically important places. For obvious reasons, the Warsaw agglomeration is number 1 on the list of places to be covered with such an umbrella. Therefore, installations in the Warsaw area, including the CPK, will always enjoy the best possible protection
– he explained.
Horała also emphasized that the construction of the CPK does not mean the liquidation of other airports, and that “its possible failure will only lead to a situation as if we had not built it. It is total nonsense to say that the situation will be even worse“.
He also added that the potential destruction of such a massive infrastructure is practically “indestructible with a payload smaller than a tactical nuclear weapon or of equivalent force.”
Conventional weapons can cause partial damage that can lead to limitations or interruptions in use that can be repaired
– Horała noted.
If we define CPK as a priority attack object for the Russian armed forces, we also admit that this is also from the perspective of our enemies. it is a valuable and important thing that strengthens and benefits our country. The Russians would not waste missiles on the ‘monument of megalomania’, ‘Miś’, etc. It is no coincidence that the portal Sputnik regularly attacked the CPK (with arguments strangely similar to those of Mr Lasek). Thus, by forgoing the build-up of the CPK, we are serving Russia on a silver platter with the implementation of one of its likely war objectives, without all the risks and costs associated with aggression.
– emphasized Marcin Horała in a post on social media.
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Source: wPolityce