International Airport Review
29 September 2026
A modern airport is far more than a passenger terminal and runways. This is the approach being taken in the development of Poland’s new national airport and Port Polska, the country’s largest infrastructure project.
Major airports are complex economic ecosystems in which passenger transport, air cargo, logistics, aircraft maintenance, ground transportation, retail, food and beverage, and a wide range of passenger-oriented services and terminal amenities are closely interdependent. The key advantage of a greenfield airport project does not lie simply in the ability to build state-of-the-art infrastructure. Far more important is the opportunity to design the infrastructure from the outset around the target operating model, rather than adapting processes to the constraints of infrastructure developed over decades. For an airline, what ultimately matters is how the airport supports its operations: the size and characteristics of the catchment area, transport connectivity, infrastructure capacity and availability, operational predictability, aircraft turnaround times, and the ability to maximise fleet utilisation, which is particularly important for hub carriers and airlines basing aircraft at the airport. An aircraft generates revenue when it is flying with passengers and cargo. Every unplanned minute on the ground can affect not only an individual flight, but also subsequent rotations, crew utilisation, slot availability, and connecting passenger flows. The competitive advantage of a new airport will therefore lie in an efficient turnaround process that is predictable and consistently deliverable on a 24/7 basis...
