Łódź 2013-01-18
Lodz-Lublinek Airport.
Geographic coordinates: 51.719N 19.389E.
History of Lublinek Airport in Łódź.
The idea of creating an airport near industrial Łódź was born in the first years after Poland regained its independence. Favorable land was found west of the city in the areas of Lublinek and Nowy Józefów. These lands were agricultural fields, and a large part of them was wasteland. Construction began in 1924. The airport occupied about 100 hectares. Three wooden hangars, workshops, gas stations and social facilities were built. These facilities were located on the premises of the current Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze No. 1. In addition to commercial functions, the airport was intended to organize a school of pilots and mechanics. On September 13, 1925, the airport was officially opened. The ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister Julian Eberhardt (Talented Polish railway, road and bridge engineer. In the governments of the Second Republic of Poland, he served as Deputy Minister and Head of the Ministry of Communications). The blessing of the airport was performed and the holy mass was presided over by Bishop Wincenty Tymieniecki (the first bishop of the Diocese of Łódź, in the period 1921 - 1934). Also present at the ceremony were; local state, local government and military authorities as well as thousands of inhabitants of the City of Łódź and the surrounding area. The airport served military and civil functions. In April 1927, regular connections were launched from Łódź to; Warsaw, Poznań, Lviv and Vilnius. At that time, Łódź had the largest network of domestic connections in Poland. The transport of mail, money and goods developed. At the airport, planes belonging to the great manufacturers of Lodz were arriving. In the 1930s, the airport was systematically expanded. Two large modern brick hangars were built, standing until now (2013). A new petrol station was built. A new building of the airport station (at Stanisława Dubois Street), a traffic control tower and administrative and social facilities were put into use. A partially paved runway was built, paved with basalt paving stones, 15 m wide and 500 m long. Plans for paved runways and taxiways were developed. Aviation workshops were expanded. A strong textile industry was conducive to the development of the airport.
The further development of the airport was interrupted by the aggression of the Germans against the Republic of Poland on September 1, 1939. The Germans used the airport for war purposes. They repaired combat aircraft in the workshops. They significantly enlarged the airport area due to the large number of wrecks brought here for renovation. In 1943, they extended the RWY to a length of 1,200 m, giving it a concrete surface.
In a new reality. 1945.
In the autumn of 1945, LOT Polish Airlines launched domestic connections using the Lublinek Airport. This airport was part of the 1st and 2nd ring lines. And the circular line is; Warsaw-Lublin-Rzeszow-Kraków-Łódź-Warsaw. The second circular line is; Warsaw-Lodz-Katowice-Wroclaw-Poznan-Lodz-Warsaw. In this way, Lubinek Airport became the second airport in Poland in terms of traffic volume after Okęcie. However, let's not delude ourselves; These planes were not flown by ordinary citizens. On board were mainly military men, militiamen and party activists who consolidated the new social order. Since 1949, there have been connections between the three airports. For example; Warsaw-Łódź-Wrocław and back and Warsaw-Łódź-Poznań. In 1958, the new state authorities, led by Władysław Gomułka, recognized air travel as an imperialist luxury and drastically reduced the network of connections of LOT Polish Airlines. Lublinek airport felt it the most, because in 1958 it was closed to passenger traffic. Władysław Gomułka himself traveled in an Il-14 plane (saloon), which can now be seen (2013) at the Polish Aviation Museum in Czyżyny. The second such plane was in the Lublinki Museum, but it was moved to the museum in Dęblin. Władysław Gomułka officially said that he preferred trains, although whenever he had the opportunity he flew by plane (Just like the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland - Donald Tusk: a fan of Tu-154 M and Yak-40, and after the Smolensk attack he switched to Embraer 175 planes). Since 1958, the Lublinek Airport has become the base for the Lodz Aeroclub, the Polish Medical Air Rescue and Aviation Repair Works. A place for the flying club and the ambulance service was found on the north-eastern side of the airport, in wasteland.
In the following decades, the fate of the Lublinek Airport led to the idea of its complete liquidation and allocating the land for housing development (4-story and 10-story blocks of flats). However, the army and the Military Repair Works, which from the beginning of the 60s, became a specialist in the repair of helicopters, stood in the way. Thanks to this situation, the airport was the perfect venue for countless aviation competitions; planes, gliders, helicopters and modeling. On a regional, national and international scale. The proximity of the city made it possible to find accommodation, not necessarily in a hotel, but, for example, with players living in Łódź or their friends.
On June 13, 1987, a solemn holy mass was held on the apron of Lublinek Airport during the third pilgrimage of Pope John Paul II to his homeland. The Holy Father arrived at the airport by Mi-8 helicopter.
Together with the socio-economic transformations (1989) there was a return to the idea of a communication airport. Due to the low financial outlays, the idea of a regional airport was settled at that time. It was related to the idea of building a Central Airport for Poland. From regional airports, a passenger would fly to the Central Port and from there fly, for example, to the USA. Such a central port was to be built between Warsaw and Łódź. There were several locations. This idea has not been realized by any of our governments. Life has shown that passengers do not want to change trains. They want to fly to or near their destination in one go.
In the first half of the 1990s, a number of modernizations were carried out at the airport to obtain the appropriate certificate. By decision of the mayor of Łódź, Grzegorz Palka, a disposable airport was created, serving small passenger traffic (light aircraft, air taxis). A passenger terminal was built at ul. General Stanisław Maczek.
Photo description: Lublinek Airport passenger terminal, later called Terminal No. 1 and General Aviation Terminal.
In 1996, Lublinek Airport was granted the status of an international airport. In the second half of the 1990s, a number of modernizations were carried out at the airport. RWY was modernized, extending it to 1,440 m (was 1,220 m). The taxiway was rebuilt. The platform plate was expanded. A new transformer was erected to meet the increased demand for electricity. Navigation lights have been installed. The Airport Fire Brigade was created and a building was erected for it. A hotel, restaurant and car rentals were put into operation. At that time, the airport did not yet have an ILS landing system.
At that moment, the airport was able to accept ATR 42/72, Yak-40, C-130 Herkules, BAe 146 (four engine), Falcon 2000, Bombardier DHC-8 aircraft.
The first commercial flight on the Łódź-Warsaw route took place on April 21, 1999. ATR 42 aircraft. However, the flights were disrupted by weather conditions. These flights were soon suspended. PLL LOT explained the suspension of flights with the low turnout and the lack of the ILS system. To this must be added a bad flight schedule and expensive tickets. It was faster, cheaper and more convenient to go to Warsaw by train.
The ILS system was launched in July 2002.
In 2004, Lublinek Airport was, as the only one in Poland, included in the accession treaty (Poland's accession to the European Union) as a city airport, which may result in numerous restrictions imposed by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) in the future. For example, limiting the number of take-offs and landings to one per day, which in practice will prevent development. The majority of deputies from Łódź voted for this amendment (!).
In 2004, the authorities of the Lublinek Airport started talks with the airline European Air Express (EAE). European Air Express was a regional airline based in Mönchengladbach, Germany. The company was founded in 1999. It operated in the Rajch and neighboring countries. The company was liquidated in 2007.
Both entities reached an agreement and a cooperation agreement was signed. On March 29, 2004, European Air Express (EAE) launched the first international connection from Lodz to Cologne with ATR 42 aircraft. However, flights were suspended after only 6 months. The reason was too high ticket prices, restrictions on ticket bookings and no possibility to take hand luggage (purse or briefcase only).
Also in 2004, the authorities of Lublinek Airport signed an agreement with Cimber Air (more commonly known as Cimber Sterling. Cimber Air is a Danish airline that was liquidated in 2012). The Łódź-Copenhagen connection was launched and operated from April 2004 to March 2005.
The main problem of the airport, however, was the too short runway. It basically only secured the possibility of landing turboprop aircraft. Most airlines in their fleet had mainly Boeing B 737 and Airbus A 320 aircraft. These machines could not fly to Łódź. Therefore, in 2004, decisions were made to extend the RWY from 1,440 m to 2,100 m. The works were carried out in the period from March 2005 to August 2005. At the same time, the platform apron was extended once again, so that in 2007 it had 8 stands for class B 737 aircraft.
At the same time, talks were started with Ryanair (the largest low-cost airline in Europe). One of the important topics of these talks was the airport's infrastructure, which had to be adapted to operate larger aircraft.
In order for the Airport to accept B 737 and A 320 class aircraft, it was necessary to purchase a 4-axle combat vehicle with appropriate acceleration for the Airport Fire Brigade. In October 2005, the Voivodship Board financed the purchase of the car in the amount of PLN 1 million. The car appeared at the airport in January 2006. The car was made by the Polish company Moto Truck from Kielce, on a Mercedes chassis. The company has been specializing in combat vehicles for fire brigades on 2/3/4-axle chassis since 1996. On November 17, 2011, the Airport Fire Brigade received another modern Iveco Magirus Super Dragon 2 combat vehicle. The vehicle has two engines with a total power of 1,120 HP, a tank of 17,500 liters of water, 2,300 liters of foaming agent and 500 kg of extinguishing powder. The vehicle has an 8x8 drive, 4 axles, its length is 13.1 meters, width 3 m, height 3.6 m. It accelerates to a speed of 80 km/h in 21 seconds, and its maximum speed is 150 km/h despite its weight over 50 tons. The manufacturer of the car is Iveco. The purchase cost of Super Dragon is EUR 1.16 million.
Another necessary change at the Lublinek Airport for the acceptance of B 737 and A 320 class aircraft was the extension of the runway. Not to be confused with the runway. This was done in 2005 by moving the edge lighting from the edge of the RWY to the grass, which widened the runway from 30 to 45 m.
On October 29, 2005, Terminal II was officially opened. It was built in a record time of 70 days. The construction cost was PLN 5,917,000. The facility has a modular structure, impermanently connected to the ground. The building was designed by Biuro Projektowe Piotr Biliński, and the contractor was Remo-Bud (the same company that extended the runway). The facility is intended for passenger service and includes rooms for specialist services, departure and arrival halls, office rooms, and a separate commercial and service section. It is capable of handling ten times more passengers than the existing terminal, i.e. 500,000. people per year. The hall is less than 2,000 sq. m2, volume 9,327.0 m3, and the departure hall can accommodate 200 people (including 160 seats). In 2012, the facility was sold for PLN 2,000,000 to the authorities of Radom and is to be built at Radom Sadków Airport.
On October 30, 2005, the first Ryanair B 737-800 arrived on flight FR2468 from London. Landing took place around 09:20. The plane brought 175 passengers and has 189 passenger seats. Seat utilization was 93%. At 10:05, with 177 people on board, he took off on a flight from Łódź to London. Thus, a new connection was inaugurated. This fact was watched by about 3,000 Łódź residents gathered near the Lublinek Airport.
In December 2005, the Polish company Jet Air launched a connection with Warsaw with Jetstream J32 turboprop aircraft. The plane has 18 passenger seats. Jet Air operated the flights under an agreement concluded with PLL LOT. Unfortunately, Jet Air entered the structures of OLT Germany and was liquidated in 2012.
In 2006, it was announced that the port's name would be changed to Władysław Reymont Airport. Lodz Airport Władysław Reymont.
In 2006, Ryanair launches new connections. Among others to the East Midlands and Dublin.
In 2006, a new Polish airline, Centralwings, which had strong ties to PLL LOT, tries to enter the market. In March 2006, it resumed flights from Łódź to Dublin, but in May 2006, it suspended the connection. On February 19, 2007, it launched connections to Rome and Paris. Centralwings closed operations in 2009.
In 2006, decisions were made to extend the runway from 2,100 m to 2,500 m. This made it possible to accept B 757, B 767, and A 330 aircraft. New lighting installation was started. Taxiways were widened from 12 m to 32 m and the platform apron was enlarged. In January 2007, the extended RWY was put into operation. Lengthening the runway and installing new lighting cost PLN 21 million. In 2007, PLN 37 million was allocated from the state budget for the construction of the New Passenger Terminal.
On February 7, 2007, a new airport fire station was opened. This was dictated by the new regulations ordering the location of the firehouse near the RWY. In this way, the distance and time to a possible aircraft accident were shortened. In addition, the firehouse was equipped with an observation post with monitoring of landing and taking off aircraft. Not less than 10 m above the airport plane, with the entire landing area visible. Airport firehouses have already been erected in this way; Balice, Ławica, others. In Lublinek, the fire station has its own source of electricity and 4 x 54 m3 water and foam tanks. The firehouse cost PLN 7 million. Provides high security, up to category VII.
On March 29, 2008, the Boeing 757-200 of the Israeli airline El Al landed for the first time at Lublinek Airport, thus inaugurating connections from Łódź to Tel Aviv.
In April 2008, a near-accident occurred at the Lublinek Airport. The Boeing B 737 with 168 people on board was due to take off for the East Midlands at 11:00. 10:30. Taxiing on the runway, the machine veered off the route and landed with the nose wheel in the sand. (taxiing on the RWY in Lublinek is standard, because there is no side taxiway yet. The situation is similar in Jasionka, Modlin, Świdnik-Lublin and hundreds of other ports in the world). As soon as the plane left the runway, the airport duty officer announced the alarm. Within 180 seconds, the airport fire brigade was at the plane to make sure there was no fuel leak and no injuries. Passengers were evacuated. The buses were in a quarter of an hour and took the passengers to the terminal. Noone hurt. The end of the RWY is marked by 5 m long and 1 m wide white stripes and warning lights. The emergency braking zone is 90 m long and 60 m wide. It is filled with sand, so that the plane softly settles in it in such situations. The plane could not be taken from the scene immediately, because its fate is decided by the user, i.e. Ryanair. It was her specialists who decided how to pull the plane out. Where to attach tow ropes. The plane was towed after 12 hours. The airport services did an excellent job. The pilot was to blame, the State Commission for Investigation of Aircraft Accidents ruled.
The newest platform apron was placed on the west side of Terminal II, and on the south side for Terminal III, which was in the plans at the time. It has a trapezoidal shape and an area of 31,000 m2. Its construction took 7 months and cost PLN 31 million. It was handed over for use on June 12, 2008. The opening ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Poland, Professor Lech Kaczyński.
In 2008, Ryanair launched another connection to Stockholm, and in 2010 to Milan-Bergamo.
Since 2009, Lublinek Airport has been handling cargo flights using one of the hangars previously belonging to the Lodz Aeroclub.
In December 2009, the construction of the new Terminal III began. On January 8, 2010, the foundation act was laid. Construction work lasted 18 months. The building is 137 m long, 80 m wide and 15 m high. It has four floors, 25,600 m2, 15 check-in counters. It handles 2 million passengers a year and 1,300 people per hour. The construction cost is PLN 200 million. It was put into operation on June 1, 2012.
In March 2010, flights from Lodz were launched by the second large low-cost airline Wizz Air. The first route was launched on March 30, 2010, by A 320 aircraft to Dortmund and then to Stockholm. Another Łódź-London Luton route was launched in 2011. On April 12, 2010, a Boeing 767 200ER flew from Milan to Italian volleyball fans (Final Four). The largest aircraft in the airport's history so far.
In 2010, a new petrol station was commissioned. In 2010, there were plans to build a free-standing air traffic control tower. The tower was to have a height of 40 m and a usable area of 1,442 m2. The building was to have 2-storey administrative and technical part and 5-storey operating. The cost is PLN 11 million. Eventually, the air traffic control tower became part of the terminal. On November 15, 2012, the tower was officially handed over for use.
On 3-6, 10-13 and 17-20 September 2010, due to the renovation of the runway at Okęcie, Lublinek Airport took over a large part of passenger traffic. The airport passed the exam exemplary. For efficiently taking over the traffic, the Airport received the Awionetka 2010 award and the title of the Best Airport of the Year 2010, and won the Łódź of Success plebiscite in the event of the month category. This situation was a real treat for Łódź spotters. Planes of the airlines WizzAir, Norway Air Shuttle, LOT Charters, Air Italy Polska, Travel Service Airlines, Eurocypria Airlines, Israir landed here.
On October 30, 2010, it has been five years since the inauguration of Ryanair flights between London and Łódź. During this time, these lines transported 1,230,689 passengers from and to Lublinek.
In October 2010, the construction of the missing section of the patrol and fire road around the airport, 1,920 m long and 6 m wide, began.
In 2012, Ryanair launched a connection from Łódź to Bristol.
In April 2012, the OLT Express line was launched with connections to Wrocław and Gdańsk. However, on July 31, 2012, the company went bankrupt, leaving thousands of passengers with unrealized tickets. At the same time, OLT germany still functioned well. Scandal - a scam of boys from Gdańsk and Germany.
On June 1, 2012, Terminal III was ceremonially opened, which basically became Terminal I. On June 2, 2012, an Open Day was organized at the Terminal.
On December 15, 2012, a plaque commemorating General Andrzej Błasik (1962-2010), who died in the Smolensk attack on April 10, 2010, was unveiled at the airport. General Andrzej Błasik obtained his first pilot's license at the Lublinek airport.
On January 17, 2013, a new base of the Polish Medical Air Rescue was opened at the Lublinek Airport.
Lublinek airport details.
Lodz Airport named after Władysław Reymont is located in the very center of the Republic of Poland and in the center of Europe. The port is located about 6 km from the center of Łódź. Approximately 1.4 million people live in cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants within a radius of 50 km from the airport. Currently (2013) the airport is still being expanded. The airport ranks 8th in Poland in terms of the number of passengers served.
IATA code: LCJ. Coordinates 51°43'19" N 19°23'53" E. Address ul. Generała Stanisława Maczka 35. 94-328 Lodz. Secretariat: +48 42 688 84 14. Headquarters: +48 42 683 52 00.
The airport has a runway measuring 2,500 m x 45 m, in the direction 07/25, extended and widened many times. The airport does not have a parallel taxiway, so aircraft taxi on the RWY. The southern taxiway (along the stands) is not used by commercial passenger aircraft. Only one Alfa taxiway leads to the platform apron. Currently, the airport has two platform slabs; eastern and western. They are separated by a temporary terminal building, which is being dismantled and transported to Radom. In the future, both platform slabs will be merged into one. Then the area will be about 60,000 m2.
The airport can handle up to 2 million passengers a year. Communication to the airport is provided by the municipal transport company by buses. JET-A1 and AVGAS 110L aviation fuels are available at the airport.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman