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Sunday, 8 July 2012

More about Modlin

Some more facts from yesterday's visit, from the Pani Edyta, the tour guide.
  • The building of the airport - the entire investment - cost 350m złotys. The refurbishment of Warsaw Okęcie's first terminal (the maroony-purple one) will cost 380m zlotys, to put it into perspective.
  • There's no radar at Modlin. The airport will use the radar at Okęcie.
  • Only two types of aircraft will initially use the airport - the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320.
  • Birds are scared off by recorded avian distress calls played through speakers around the airport's perimeter, occasional explosions, and a falconer with his bird of prey - said to be the most effective.
  • The Marshal of Mazowieckie province, Adam Struzik, is keen on extending the rail spur that will serve the airport terminal on to Płock - his home town, 70km to the west.
  • Local residents might complain about the fact that the airport's in use 24/7, but modern jet airliners make much less noise than the Soviet-era military jets that roared in and out of Modlin until 2000.
  • The terminal building is not equipped with air-conditioning. Which will not make it a comfortable place to spend two hours before your flight, but is in keeping with the low-cost travel philosophy.
Wikipedia has this page about Modlin airport. As of today, Modlin is not yet shown on FlightRadar24.com. Flying into Modlin, your baggage will be tagged 'WMI'.

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7 comments:

  1. Anonymous9 July 2012 at 07:45

    Michael - good updates `on Modlin.

    The fact that it is not air-conditioned is an affront to the traveling public. This is 2012 not the 'communist times' when people were treated like cattle. Low cost is not an excuse for this.

    I also think that they should not be given an operating license until there is a rail link from the center of Warsaw and also from the Chopin Airport. With the way it is, it will add another 2 hours for any trip we would make using this ill conceived airport, opening before the infrastructure is ready to support it.

    A very 'Polish' way of doing things as we have seen often. Shoot then aim later.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wojtek z Brukseli9 July 2012 at 11:54

    It's bad news that there will be no airconditioning at all. I am often travelling for Charleroi Airport, the low-cost airport for Brussels where despite all these savings which are typical for budget terminals, air conditioning is perceived as some sort of standard feature these days.

    Pozdrawiam,

    Wojtek z Brukseli

    ReplyDelete
  3. Scott9 July 2012 at 16:55

    Leaving Warsaw for a very cool (temperature-wise) London yesterday, I was just commenting to my wife that, as we were queuing, at least we weren't cooking like when we used to queue at Etiuda.

    If Modlin doesn't have air-conditioning (and continues not to have it) that will certainly be a bad thing - especially when it looks like it might be great in other ways. I'm not looking forward to carrying a tonne of luggage in a queue in the lovely Polish summer! :(

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  4. Anonymous9 July 2012 at 19:42

    Well I'll be jiggered, so there is something! No AC in a tin shed in summer is a joke. Installation and running costs for such a small building would equate to a grosz per ticket, if that. Disgraceful and no doubt something that will change eventually.

    Good news for us. Living our side of Warsaw we can get to Modlin in 31 minutes according to Google Maps. Also well placed for the new A2 East or West assuming it is ever fully and properly opened.

    Thanks for the roving reports!

    Scatts

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  5. Anonymous9 July 2012 at 19:45

    Sorry, I meant to add two things.

    1/ where can I see the flight path/s? Ay ideas?

    2/ I'm anonymous all the time because so far it seems to work. Nothing else does! :-)

    Scatts

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  6. Sigismundo10 July 2012 at 00:48

    No air-con? Hell, why bother with heating in the winter? Passengers coming to Poland in February will be well aware that it gets COLD, and they can just keep their jackets on inside the terminal.

    Come to think of it, why bother heating the aircraft during the flight? And if you're Ryanair (which despite years of studiously avoiding even Warsaw Etiuda will now be flying from Modlin) you can put a few extra Euros onto the bottom line by charging extra for heated sections of the fuselage.
    Brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous14 July 2012 at 00:05

    It looks as if Modlin has got its certificate: http://www.wbj.pl/article-59785-modlin-airport-receives-public-use-certification.html?typ=pam

    ReplyDelete