New £25billion mega airport opening in Europe will ‘take on London Heathrow and Dubai’

A NEW mega airport in Europe is set to take on London Heathrow and Dubai – and works have finally been given a start date.

Warsaw Solidarity Airport in Poland hopes to open by 2032.

Passengers travelling from countries in Central and Eastern Europe will be able to fly almost anywhere in the world.

Last year, Foster + Partners and Buro Happold, the architect firms behind the ambitious build, unveiled detailed plans of what the future travel hub could look like when it opens.

A series of CGI images depicted the airport’s passenger terminal, main rail station and transfer hub.

According to the New Civil Engineer, the proposed plans have been finalised, with construction work set to begin in 2026 – two decades after the project was first announced in 2005.

Since last year, design changes were made to the roof, walkways, waiting areas and the bus station, in a bid to improve passenger comfort.

Further designs for the airport’s runways, taxiways, underground railway tunnel and air traffic control tower are still being finalised.

Grant Brooker, head of studio at Foster + Partners previously told Notes from Poland: “Our design focuses on passengers. Our ambition is to create an accessible building that will improve the travel experience…[through] clear visual connections.

“We believe the CPK [the airport] will completely change the way people travel around Poland, and will also become a new gateway to Europe and the rest of the world.”

Even though the airport has yet to receive planning permission, preparation work on the site is already underway with tree removal said to be currently taking place.

Construction work is slated to start in 2026, with a phased opening date set for 2032.

Initially, Warsaw Solidarity Airport was being built to replace Warsaw Chopin Airport because it was nearing capacity.

However, the huge new travel hub will now complement the existing airport.

Poland plans to build on its overall passenger growth, with the new airport also helping the country’s flag carrier (LOT Polish Airlines) to increase its passenger numbers.

The new passenger terminal will be able to accommodate 11,000 passengers per hour, with the capability to hold 40 million annual passengers by 2035.

A third runway, and other terminal extensions, will see passenger numbers increase to 65 million by 2060.

In addition to the new airport being built, improvements will also need to be made to the country’s rail infrastructure.

This is because the airport will be located 40km away from Warsaw.

Because of its location outside the city, the airport will have its own train station that will connect to the country’s pre-existing railway network.

It is not yet known when flights will operate from the airport and which airlines will fly from the travel hub.

The huge airport project is expected to generate around 150,000 jobs in the area.

However, the plans for the new travel hub have been met with fierce backlash from local residents and travel experts.

Two years ago, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary told local newspaper Rzeczpospolita: “This airport is unnecessary. It was planned in the wrong place and at the wrong time.”

Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which closed in November 2022, could reopen thanks to a new multi-million-pound plan.

And Plymouth Airport hopes to reopen after being closed for more than a decade.