Copernicus Airport Wrocław

Early years

The airport was built in 1938 as Flugplatz Breslau-Schöngarten Airport for German military purposes before World War II. It was operated briefly by Soviet forces following the war before being used for civilian purposes in 1945. Services were operated to Warsaw, Łódź, Poznań and Katowice. By 1992 destinations also included Kraków, Rzeszów, Gdańsk, Szczecin and Koszalin.

'Port Lotniczy Wrocław S. A.' was established as a company in January 1992 and Wrocław airport assets operated by the state owned Polish Airports authority were transferred to the company in January 1993.

The first international flights were inaugurated in January 1993, serving Frankfurt, Germany. Significant airport improvements have been completed in recent years. A new international departures terminal was opened in May 1997 followed by a new domestic terminal in November 1998. A cargo terminal, international arrivals hall, and installation of a new meteorological system were completed in 1999; new fire station and apron extensions in 2000; new air traffic control tower and duty-free area in 2001.

Development since the 2000s

On December 6, 2005 the airport was renamed after the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (in Polish: Mikołaj Kopernik), who in Wrocław studied and received a scholarship, and in 1503 was scholastic Wrocław Collegiate Holy Cross and St. Bartholomew. The airport's new name is Copernicus Airport Wrocław (Port Lotniczy Wrocław im. Mikołaja Kopernika). Terminal extensions were officially opened on the same day, increasing the airport's capacity to 750,000 passengers per year. This capacity was quickly exceeded by several hundred thousand (in the first 9 months of 2007 the airport served 972,505 passengers) so the existing terminal space was expanded by 1,900 m² (20,451 sq ft) to alleviate some of the congestion, but more importantly make the terminal facilities conform to the requirements of the Schengen Agreement, which was implemented at Poland's airports on 31 March 2008.

On 19 July 2006 the architectural firm JSK was chosen to design a significant airport expansion. This includes plans for a new passenger terminal (eventually, after several stages of expansion, the airport will be able to handle 7 million passengers yearly), a runway extension to 3,000 m (9,843 ft), and assorted taxiway, apron and navigation equipment improvements (ILS). Also, car parking will be expanded to 1,000 spaces, and a conference centre with a hotel will be built on site. The first stage, increasing the passenger capacity to 3,5 million yearly, officially opened on February 29, 2012. However, the new terminal opened to passengers on Sunday March 11, 2012. in 2015 Ryanair announced that it has selected Copernicus Airport Wrocław (Port Lotniczy Wrocław im. Mikołaja Kopernika) for its aircraft maintenance base. The construction of the hangar to fit C-type aircraft (Boeing 737) is underway. The airport has upgraded to ILS system from category I to Cat. II in April 2016.

Facilities

The airport operates modern domestic, international and cargo terminals. The international terminal contains a duty free area in the international departures hall. The cargo terminal, located beside the fire station and air traffic control tower, west of the passenger terminals, has a storage area of 3,300 m² (36,000 sq ft), a bonded warehouse, freezer and radioactive materials warehouse.

Statistics

Following are the official airport annual traffic figures.

Ground transportation

Bus 106 operated by MPK runs between the airport and the centre of Wrocław (ticket 3 PLN (~0,75 €)). At the airport there are several car rentals. The airport is also connected to the capital Warsaw via the autostrada A8 and expressway S8, the distance is 350 km.