Warsaw Chopin Airport is approaching the end of its capacity. Meanwhile, there is an airport 100 kilometers south of Warsaw that served only 112,000 passengers in 2024. Warsaw-Radom Airport, built for over PLN 800 million and reopened in April 2023, has still not managed to convince air carriers to conduct regular operations.
Negative image and policies discourage carriers
Łukasz Chaberski, president of Polish Airports, who took up his position on April 1, 2025, does not hide that the biggest problem of the Radom airport is not infrastructure, but image. “When it comes to Radom, there are several things. First, one could say, not very good PR for years, plus political issues that come into play here, and we know that business does not like politics. If there is any confusion around Radom, carriers are also wondering whether it is worth it, whether the airport will be closed,” said the president of PPL in the Onet Morning Finansowo program.
Khaberski strongly denied speculations about the port's closure. “It will not be closed because we see great value in the airport in Radom. Of course, there is no business value for now, but each airport infrastructure also increases the resilience of our country, especially in times of international uncertainty,” he emphasized.
The president of PPL drew attention to the specificity of the Polish aviation market, where – unlike large airports – supply generates demand, and not the other way around. “There is a certain psychological barrier to entry, and I have said this many times. It seems to be happening slowly carriers, including low-cost ones, are beginning to understand that if they are the first to invest in the development of the connection network in Radom, they will winbecause they will have a situation there, I won't say it is dominant, but they will be able to choose the best hours,” Chaberski explained.
Administrative traffic division is back on the table
Due to the exhaustion of capacity in Mazovia, PPL again requested the Ministry of Infrastructure to initiate proceedings regarding the administrative division of air traffic. President Chaberski recalled that proceedings were conducted before the European Commission before the COVID-19 pandemic, but were suspended because “the indications that we would like to use this instrument then simply ceased. Traffic dropped again and this capacity was available to everyone.”
Now that passenger traffic has exceeded pre-pandemic levels, PPL wants to return to this concept. “We have practically returned to the state before Covid. What's more, we are above the pre-COVID results and exactly the same problems have revealed themselves,” said the president.
Administrative traffic division is an instrument provided for in European Union law. It allows for the transfer of certain types of air operations between ports, but the process must be completely non-discriminatory. “This transfer cannot in any way be discriminatory to anyone based on the way they conduct business. There is no legal possibility to force anyone to operate from another airport“- noted Chaberski.
This means that, for example, only low-cost carriers or charters cannot be ordered to move to Radom. Any division must be based on objective technical criteria. The final decision on this matter is made by the European Commission, which has six months to examine the Member State's application.
The environmental decision opens up new possibilities
A significant breakthrough for the development of the airport in Radom was the issuance of a positive environmental decision in June 2025 by the Regional Director for Environmental Protection in Warsaw. The document makes it possible to increase the number of civil air operations during the day to 35 and – most importantly – to launch 10 operations at night.
“A few months ago, an environmental decision was issued which also allows us to fly night flights in Radom” – confirmed Chaberski in an interview. The decision also specifies a number of conditions intended to limit the impact on the environment, including the need to implement a program limiting the risk of collisions between aircraft and birds, the use of appropriate lighting and monitoring the mortality of bats and amphibians. The port is also obliged to carry out a post-implementation noise analysis within 12 months of the launch of night operations.
Searching for alternatives
PPL does not focus only on passenger traffic. Chaberski announced that the company's management board will soon present an airport development strategy for 3-5 years, which will take into account various business scenarios. “I would not focus solely on this passenger traffic. There is some space where we can develop certain aviation services, as well as business, for example cargo related,” explained the president of PPL.
PPL board member Marcin Danił admitted in an interview with the Your Radom portal that “one of the mistakes made at the airport design stage was omitting the possibility of cargo handling from the very beginning of the airport's operation.” Talks are currently underway to fix this error. “We see great interest in servicing air freight in Radom. To implement this, appropriate infrastructure will be needed,” Danił emphasized in the interview.
The next direction of development may be the MRO sector, i.e. aircraft maintenance and servicing. “We are also talking about the so-called MRO, i.e. aircraft maintenance. We see that carriers in general around the world are developing, they are ordering more and more aircraft, and there are more and more of these machines. This proves that more and more people will have to service these machines, because whether the machine is functional or defective, it still has to undergo a certain series of inspections.” – argued Chaberski in Onet Morning Finansowo.
PPL is conducting “advanced talks with potential investors” regarding the creation of an MRO database. Such activity could significantly improve the financial situation of the port, which is currently generating losses.
Modlin and CPK – competition or complement?
The planned expansion of the airport in Modlin and the construction of the Central Communication Port within the next decade raise questions about whether there will be too many airports in the Masovian Voivodeship. However, Chaberski calms down. “This only proves how positive these traffic forecasts for Poland and Masovia are. And they are updated from time to time, prepared by the most reputable entities. These forecasts clearly show that Poland and the Polish market will grow dynamically in the coming years,” he said.
“It seems to me that in the near future there will be such a space that the capacity of both Chopin itself and Modlin will be so exhausted that they will look for other alternatives. And it seems that the airport in Radom will slowly become such an alternative. Of course, we are not talking about a large passenger volume here, but certainly much larger than at the moment” – summed up Chaberski.
PPL plans to present an airport development strategy for the next 3-5 years, which will take into account all the port's limitations, but also opportunities related to the aviation business, cargo and technical services. The final test will be whether the airport will be able to convince carriers that it is worth overcoming the “psychological barrier” and investing in Radom as a complement to the Masovian aviation infrastructure.
The entire program is available here:
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