Aviation Development 

For years humanity dreamed of breaking into the sky – the air sphere not yet visited by man was extremely desirable. Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier made his first flight in a hot-air balloon on 21 November 1783. A breakthrough in the history of aviation turned out to be the twentieth century. In 1900, the first skeleton airship flew into the air, but it was still a flight of a lighter-than-air airplane. The first flight of the Wright Brothers Flyer was celebrated on 14 December 1903. Since then, aviation has changed forever and flourished, and now air travel is considered to be one of the fastest and safest means of transport. 

Warsaw-Radom Airport

In May 2023, the controversial project of the Warsaw-Radom Airport, which was built on the ruins of the Radom-Sadków Airport, was opened. It ceased operations after only three years of functioning, suffering a financial and image fiasco. It gained the name of an airport from which almost no one ever flew. In the last year of operation, less than 10 thousand passengers were checked in there- which means, less than 30 people a day. State Airports bought the above-mentioned airport and invested 800 million PLN in the construction of a modern airport just over 100 km from the largest airport in Poland. The assumption was to relieve the pressure on the capital airport, which is not only located very close to residential buildings,
it is still nowadays definitely “overcrowded”. Radom was to play a similar role to Modlin near Warsaw, which annually celebrated approx. 3 million travelers, and it needs immediate expansion.

Radom as a taste of CPK (Central Airport)?

– One of the best connected places in Poland is being built before our eyes. It’s an act of great justice to a city so sorely tried. It is also a foretaste of what the CPK will be.

– said Marcin Horała, the Government Plenipotentiary for Social Affairs.

Central Transport Port, during the ceremonial opening of the new Warsaw-Radom Airport. But what is the situation in reality? After the first two weeks, a total of more than 3.6 thousand passengers used Warsaw-Radom Airport. There are 12 take-off and landing operations a week. The International Air Transport Association IATA in its 2022 forecast on behalf of PPL estimates that in 2040 Warsaw-Radom Airport will serve 1. 8 million passengers. Polish Airports predicts that by the end of December 2022 there will be 150-180 thousand passengers. Previously, there were 250 thousand passengers in the same period. And in 2021, about the fact that only 2-3 years after the opening, one million passengers will be flying from Radom a year.

Hidden transport potential

Michał Fiszer – aviation expert and former military pilot, in an article for Rzeczpospolita Newspaper speaks very favorably about the newly created investment. The fact is that Radom is located in a very good location, because it is close to many urban centers such as: Kielce, Warsaw, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Skarżysko -Kamienna and Starachowice. Excluding the capital, we have a total of 640 thousand inhabitants of the above-mentioned cities, who may be potential passengers for Radom airport. This Is much more than Lublin Airport! Most of the inhabitants of Warsaw decide on the cheap flights offered by the airline Ryanair, which basically only flies from Modlin. Getting to this airport is extremely difficult, because there is no direct connection to the departure hall itself – after the train ride we still have to change to the bus, and with a large amount of luggage it definitely reduces our comfort of travel. Basically, the journey from a southern Warsaw to Radom takes the sametime (or even less) as the journey to Modlin airport. In that case, has any carrier decided on a long-term cooperation with the newly established port? Well, yes!

PLL LOT

PLL LOT was established as a state-owned airline and played a key role in connecting Poland with the rest of the world. Despite many challenges, including periods of political unrest and economic hardship, LOT survived and emerged as a respected career. During its operations, LOT has expanded its network, modernized its fleet and achieved spectacular success. Hebecame a member of the International Air Transport Association(IATA) in 1929, and joined the Star Alliance in 2003. Today, LOT continues to serve as the national carrier in Poland, maintaining a reputation for reliability, quality of service, connecting passengers to destinations across Europe and beyond. Interestingly, in April 2023, the Polish airlines became the leader of punctuality in Europe. Out of 8100 flights performed as much as89. 25% were performed with a maximum delay of 15 minutes compared to the planned schedule. To date, in 2023, LOT has carried out more than 9,000 operations, which carried more than 4. 6millionpassengers (by the end of the year, it is expected to beat the 2019 record of 10 million passengers).And it was the above-mentioned carrier that saw the potential and decided to launch connections from Radom Airport to Rome, Paris or the Greek Perseza.

What’s next?

So far the airport in Radom is enjoying interest, and the planes depart almost crowded. Perhaps, over time, more and more carriers will be interested in launching connections, perhaps it is only a matter of time. With the development of infrastructure near the airport and the improvement of access connections, the airport’s success may be the same as no greater than other regional airports in Poland.

Bullet points

1. What are the prospects for Radom Airport?
2. Aviation boom in the 20th century
3. History of Polish Airlines LOT
4. Previous statistics from Warsaw-Radom airport
5. National carrier LOT the most punctual airline?.

Bibliography:

1. “What are the chances of Radom Airport?” Michał Fiszer; Rzeczpospolita; URL: https://www.rp.pl/opinie-ekonomiczne/art38183351-michal-fiszer-jakie-szanse-ma-lotnisko-w-radomiu
2. The History of Polish LOT Airlines lot.com [access 2018-01-30]
3. The most interesting facts and figures about LOT www.lot.com
4. “Latest Radom airport data…” URL: https://businessinsider.com.pl/wiadomosci/najnowsze-dane-o-lotnisku-w-radomiu-wiadomo-ile-osob-skorzystalo/18s1v8x

Photo: Magdalena Marynwska