Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport

Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport Port Lotniczy Gdańsk im. Lecha Wałęsy
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IATA: GDN – ICAO: EPGD Gdańsk Location of airport in Poland
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner/Operator	Port Lotniczy Gdańsk Spółka z.o.o.
Serves	Tricity, Poland
Hub for	Ryanair, Wizzair
Elevation AMSL	149 m / 489 ft
Coordinates
Website	airport.gdansk.pl
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 11/29 2,800 9,186 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2014)
Number of Passengers 3,288,180
Source: Polish AIP at EUROCONTROL Statistics: Airport site and the Office of Civil Aviation

Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport (Polish: Port Lotniczy Gdańsk im. Lecha Wałęsy, formerly Polish: Port Lotniczy Gdańsk-Rębiechowo) (IATA: GDN, ICAO: EPGD) is an international airport located 12 km (7.5 mi) west northwest of Gdańsk, Poland, not far from the city centres of the Tricity metropolitan area: Gdańsk (12 km (7.5 mi)), Sopot (10 km (6.2 mi)) and Gdynia (23 km (14 mi)).

The airport is named after Lech Wałęsa, the former Polish president. On the outside wall of the terminal building one can see the logo of the airport, which is Lech Wałęsa's actual signature, a stylized "W".

History

Early years (1910s-1950s)

File:Ju f13 02.jpg

An airpost Junkers F.13 in 1921 in Gdansk-Wrzeszcz

The first passenger flights in Gdansk were operated in the year 1919 from an airfield in the Langfuhr district of the Free City of Danzig (nowadays Wrzeszcz district of Gdansk). It was possible thanks to a transformation of that military location into a civilian facility. The airport was at that time additionally used for airmail services and by the police. In the next years the airport continued acquisitions of further areas which allowed it to expand and invest in modern infrastructure at that time. The technical development of Gdansk airport was followed by the launching of regular routes to Warsaw, Berlin, Moscow, Königsberg and other important cities of the region. The flights were already operated by numerous international aviation companies. The first Polish route was served between Gdansk, Warsaw and Lviv by Aerolloyd and it was started in September 1922. The company initially used Junkers F.13 aircraft on that daily route. This domestic service was the beginning of the company which later gradually became the LOT Polish Airlines, which is still Poland's national carrier.

A railway connection to Gdańsk airport was built in the 1920s. This was followed by new tram tracks in the year 1930. The airport itself had a concrete runway which had light and navigation facilities allowing aircraft to land and to take off at night. In the 1930s Gdansk airport served less than 2 thousand passengers annually but it was an important international hub that connected four countries and provided transport facilities between Polish cities.

The airport in Wrzeszcz was an important base of the German air forces during the Second World War. Even before that, German pilots had been trained on the grounds of this airport. Heavy bombings and other military activities led to the destruction of the airport. However, it was reconstructed after the war and it was provided with modern technics which allowed the airport to develop. Old domestic routes as well as many international destinations were relaunched. The airport had regular connections to countries like Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, Denmark and Sweden.

New location since 1970s

As the airport facilities became old and non functional at the end of the 1960s (including runway lights which forced airport authorities to ban night flights), a new location near the village of Rębiechowo was chosen. The airport had to be built somewhere else also because of the further urban development. New areas were needed in order to make it possible for the public investors to construct new buildings for the growing population of Gdańsk. Furthermore, a new longer runway was necessary in order to allow larger jet airliners to take off and land safely as the era of modern jet aircraft began. The old airport in Wrzeszcz was officially closed on 1 May 1974 and it practically ceased to exist as a large housing estate was built on its grounds. Nowadays only a few remaining elements of the old Wrzeszcz airport infrastructure can be found.

After the closure of the old airport, the new one was built and it opened in 1974 near the village of Rębiechowo (on westernmost land incorporated into the Gdańsk borough of Matarnia in 1973). The airport acquired its current name in 2004. There was some controversy as to whether the name should be spelled Lech Walesa (without diacritics, but better recognizable in the world) or Lech Wałęsa (with Polish letters, but difficult to write and pronounce for foreigners, the closest English phonetic approximation being "Vawensa").

Since 1993 Gdansk airport has been owned 31.45% by the authorities of Pomeranian Voivodeship, 29.45% by city of Gdańsk, 1.14% by city of Gdynia, 0.35% by city of Sopot and 37.61% by Polish Airports State Enterprise. In 2006 the airport served for the first time in its history more than 1 million passengers per year. In 2010 the passenger number was higher than 2 million. After the construction of a new modern passenger terminal with extended capacities (the opening took place in April 2012 ahead of the UEFA Euro 2012 football championships), the airport continued its development and it served for the first time over 3 million passengers in a single year in 2014. In summer season 2015 the airlines flying to and from the airport served over 50 regular routes as well as charter and cargo flights.

Airport infrastructure

File:Passenger terminal at Gdańsk Airport, Poland.JPG

Public area at Terminal T2

File:Interior of the Gdansk Airport.jpg

Departure gates at the new terminal

Airside facilities

Gdansk airport has a single asphalt-concrete runway in the direction of 11/29. The runway is 2,800 m (9,200 ft) long and it is equipped with a modern ILS CAT II allowing aircraft to land in foggy weather. The decision hight established for the approach system in Gdansk is 30 m (98 ft), whereas the visibility minimum for pilots varies from 125 m (410 ft) to 300 m (980 ft), the higher value being required in the initial one-third of the runway's length. The runway as well as taxiways are equipped with light aids system using LED technology. The lighting of the runway can be remotely controlled from the flight control tower. The runway has two exit taxiways leading to five parking aprons where up to 18 middle-sized aircraft (e.g. Boeing 737 or Airbus 321) can be parked. The airport also has an extra apron used in winter for de-icing of aircraft. The deicing pad has been constructed in a way which allows keeping up ecological standards.

Passenger terminals

Gdansk Airport has two passengers terminals (T1 and T2), of which only Terminal T2 is fully functional. Terminal T1 was built in 1993 and is currently being used for departures (passport control and boarding) to countries which are not part of Schengen Area, mainly to Great Britain, Ireland and holiday destinations e.g. to Egypt. There is no check-in or any other airport services in Terminal T1. The building is connected with the newer Terminal T2 with a bridge, similar to an airbridge. The old building is planned to be torn down in the future when the new terminal is extended.

The new terminal, called Terminal T2, is a modern building with characteristic architectural elements, the roof imitating waves at sea being an example of them. It was constructed west of Terminal T1. The first part (departures only) was completed in 2012, and the arrival area started operations in September 2015. Since then, Terminal 1 does not serve any arriving passengers.

The overall area of Terminal 2 amounts to approx. 54,000 m² (580,000 sq ft). The terminal has a direct link to a railway station. It has 25 check-in desks, a highly modern luggage transport and sorting facility and a spacious departure area with gates. At the airport in Gdansk, five airbridges are available for airlines to use. The terminal handled 3.3 million passengers in 2014 which was about 66% of its maximum capacity. However, after the completion of the new arrival area, the maximum capacity of the airport is estimated at 7 million passengers per year. Future plans include a construction of an extra concourse exclusively for departing flights. The terminal offers services such as tourist information, shops, kiosks, bars, currency exchange desks, different car rentals and an executive lounge. There is also a conference room and facilities for handling VIP passengers and general aviation flights.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations
Air Berlin operated by Darwin Airline	Berlin-Tegel (ends 4 April 2016)
Czech Airlines	Prague (begins 27 March 2016), Poznań (begins 27 March 2016)
Enter Air	Seasonal: Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca Seasonal charter: Antalya, Chania, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Enfidha, Hurghada, İzmir, Kos, Rhodes, Sharm el-Sheikh, Thessaloniki, Varna, Zakynthos
Finnair operated by Nordic Regional Airlines	Helsinki
LOT Polish Airlines	Kraków, Warsaw-Chopin
Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine	Frankfurt, Munich
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Oslo-Gardermoen
Ryanair	Birmingham, Bristol, Cork, Dublin, Edinburgh, Leeds/Bradford, London-Stansted, Moss, Warsaw-Modlin Seasonal: Alicante, Kraków, Malta, Manchester, Pisa, Wrocław
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda (begins 25 March 2016)
Small Planet Airlines	Seasonal charter: Fuerteventura, Hurghada, Tenerife-South
SmartWings operated by Travel Service Airlines	Seasonal charter: Corfu
Wizz Air	Aberdeen, Ålesund, Barcelona, Beauvais, Bergamo, Bergen, Billund, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, Doncaster/Sheffield, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Groningen, Hahn, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Liverpool, London-Luton, Lübeck, Malmö, Malta, Molde, Reykjavík-Keflavík, Sandefjord, Stavanger, Stockholm-Skavsta, Trondheim, Turku

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
DHL Aviation operated by Exin	Leipzig/Halle
FedEx Feeder operated by ASL Airlines Ireland	Berlin-Schönefeld, Paris-Charles de Gaulle
SprintAir	Warsaw-Chopin
TNT Airways	Katowice, Liège

Statistics

File:Airbus 320-200 Wizz Air 4.JPG

Wizz Air is the largest operator in Gdańsk with 5 based aircraft

Year	Passengers	Passengers Change	Cargo (t)	Flight operations
1999	249,913		1,472	10,512
2000	269,960	8.0%	1,552	11,586
2001	319,174	18.2%	1,953	14,052
2002	318,033	0.4%	2,211	13,450
2003	365,036	14.8%	2,686	14,346
2004	463,840	27.1%	2,742	17,500
2005	677,946	46.2%	3,433	19,000
2006	1,249,780	84.3%	4,037	24,200
2007	1,708,739	36.7%	4,757	28,200
2008	1,954,166	14.4%	4,610	31,000
2009	1,890,925	3.2%	4,067	30,000
2010	2,232,590	18.1%	4,487	32,000
2011	2,483,000	11.2%	4,943	34,360
2012	2,906,000	17.0%	4,851	37,022
2013	2,843,737	2.1%	4,918	42,041
2014	3,288,180	15.6%	5,658	39,974
2015 (Nov YTD)	3,452,542

Ground transportation

Rail

File:Railway Station at Gdansk Airport 2015.JPG

Passenger train at the railway station at Gdańsk Airport

Pomorska Kolej Metropolitalna (PKM, the 'Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway) connects Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport with Wrzeszcz and downtown Gdańsk. It connects to the Szybka Kolej Miejska (Tricity) the 'Fast Urban Railway' which provides further connections by frequent trains every 6 minutes to 30 minutes to 27 stations throughout the Tricity.

As of October 2015, the tickets for the train to and from Gdansk Airport can be purchased in ticket machines located at stations throughout the city. Tickets are also sold in the trains by the employees of the railway company and they should be in this case purchased immediately after getting on the train. Regular tickets to and from Gdansk cost 3,50 PLN one way. It is possible to change trains and to get to other areas of Tricity. In this case, the ticket prices may vary depending on the final station during the journey.

Bus

The following city bus lines connect the airport:

• to Gdańsk-Centre, (Orunia Gościnna), Route 210 via Gdańsk-Morena, Gdańsk Main Railway Station, old city.
• to Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz, Route 110 to Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz Railway Station.
• to Gdynia, Route 4A to Gdynia-Redłowo Railway Station, Gdynia Main Railway Station.
• to Sopot, Route 122 to Sopot - Kamienny Potok Railway Station via Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz

There are also bus services connecting the region and the airport in Gdansk with Kaliningrad in Russian Federation.

Gallery

• DanzigLechWalesaFlughafen-2.JPG

  The front side of Terminal T2 in June 2015

• T2 GDN.jpg

  Check-in desks

• DanzigLechWalesaFlughafenAbflughalle.JPG

  Departure area

• WK15 Trako 2015 (172) Lichen99.jpg

  Railway station

• Boeing 747-800 Lufthansa (7164190755).jpg

  GDN was the second airport in Europe after Frankfurt to host Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental

• B787 Dreamliner SP-LRA (8239516410).jpg

  LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner at GDN

See also

• List of airports in Poland

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (English) (Polish)
• Current weather for EPGD at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for GDN at Aviation Safety Network