Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport
| Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport Port Lotniczy Gdańsk im. Lecha Wałęsy |
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| Passenger terminal façade with airport logo incorporating Lech Wałęsa's signature | |||
IATA: GDN – ICAO: EPGD
 Gdańsk
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner/Operator | Port Lotniczy Gdańsk Spółka z.o.o. | ||
| Location | Gdańsk, Poland | ||
| Hub for | Wizz Air | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 149 m / 489 ft | ||
| Coordinates | 54°22′39″N 018°27′58″E / 54.3775°N 18.46611°E | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 11/29 | 2,800 | 9,186 | Asphalt/Concrete |
| Statistics (2010) | |||
| Number of Passengers | 2 232 590 | ||
| Aircraft Movements | 32 000 | ||
| Source: Polish AIP at EUROCONTROL[1] Statistics: Airport site[2] and the Office of Civil Aviation[3] |
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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[1] 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".
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[edit] History
The airport opened in 1974 near the village of Rębiechowo (on westernmost land incorporated into the Gdańsk borough of Matarnia in 1973), to replace the previous airport located closer to the city centre in the suburb of Wrzeszcz. 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").
In 2006 it served 1,249,780 passengers (an increase of 84% over the previous year). Half of this number were international passengers.
Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport has operated as a private company since 1993. A new terminal was opened in 1997.
Gdańsk Airport can be used as a diversionary airport for Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport in the event of poor weather or emergencies.
There are currently ongoing works to enlarge the airport and build a new Terminal ahead of Euro 2012.
[edit] Traffic statistics
| Year | Passengers | Cargo (t) | Flight operations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 249 913 | 1472 | 10 512 |
| 2000 | 269 960 | 1552 | 11 586 |
| 2001 | 319 174 | 1953 | 14 052 |
| 2002 | 318 033 | 2211 | 13 450 |
| 2003 | 365 036 | 2686 | 14 346 |
| 2004 | 463 840 | 2742 | 17 500 |
| 2005 | 677 946 | 3433 | 19 000 |
| 2006 | 1 249 780 | 4037 | 24 200 |
| 2007 | 1 708 739 | 4757 | 28 200 |
| 2008 | 1 954 166 | 4610 | 31 000 |
| 2009 | 1 890 925 | 4 067 | 30 000 |
| 2010 | 2 232 590 | 4 487 | 32 000 |
| 2011 | 2 483 000 | 4 943 | 34 360 |
[edit] Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Berlin | Berlin-Tegel [begins 1 May 2012; ends 3 June 2012], Berlin-Brandenburg [begins 3 June 2012] |
| Enter Air[5] | Seasonal: Antalya, Chania, Dubrovnik, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes |
| EuroLOT | Kraków, Poprad-Tatry, Wrocław |
| Flybe operated by Flybe Nordic | Helsinki |
| LOT Polish Airlines | Frankfurt, Warsaw-Chopin |
| LOT operated by EuroLOT | Warsaw-Chopin |
| Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine | Frankfurt, Munich |
| Norwegian Air Shuttle | Oslo-Gardermoen |
| OLT Express | Brussels, Hamburg, Katowice, Kraków [begins 7 May], Łódź [begins 2 April], Prague, Poznań [begins 2 April], Rzeszów, Szczecin [begins 2 April], Warsaw-Chopin, Wrocław [begins 2 April] |
| Ryanair | Alicante, Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Leeds/Bradford, London-Stansted, Oslo-Rygge Seasonal: Girona [begins 27 March 2012] |
| Scandinavian Airlines | Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda |
| Wizz Air | Barcelona, Beauvais, Bergen, Cologne/Bonn, Cork, Doncaster/Sheffield, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Glasgow-Prestwick, Gothenburg-City, Haugesund, Liverpool, London-Luton, Lübeck, Malmö, Milan-Orio al Serio, Rome-Fiumicino, Oslo-Torp, Stockholm-Skavsta, Stavanger, Trondheim, Turku |
[edit] Cargo airlines
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| DHL Aviation operated by Exin | Leipzig/Halle |
| Sprint Air | Warsaw |
| TNT Airways | Liege |
Wizz Air is the largest airline at the airport. It has 3 Airbus 320 aircraft based there and they serve 21 routes. Ryanair has a large presence at the airport as well.
[edit] Public transport
The following city bus lines connect the airport:
- to Gdańsk-Centre, (Orunia Gościnna), Route 210 [1] via Gdańsk-Morena, Gdańsk Main Railway Station, old city.
- to Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz, Route 110 to Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz Railway Station.
- to Gdynia, Route 510 to Gdynia-Redłowo Railway Station, Gdynia Main Railway Station.
A future rail line is intended to be built. On the 18th of February, 2012, Railway Gazette reported that "Poland’s Pomorskie voivodship has formally given the go-ahead for the Metropolitan Railway project to build 20 km of line to introduce a local service between Gdansk, Gdansk Airport and Gdynia by December 2014."[6]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport |
- Official website (English) (Polish)
- Gdansk Airport Hotel
- Current weather for EPGD at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for GDN at Aviation Safety Network
