| Central Communication Port | |
| Nativename: | Polish: Centralny Port Komunikacyjny |
| Iata: | WAW (once opened) |
| Icao: | EPWA (once opened) |
| Pushpin Map: | Poland |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of airport in Poland |
| Type: | Public |
| Operator: | Centralny Port Komunikacyjny Sp. z o.o. |
| City-Served: | Warsaw |
| Location: | Gmina Baranów, Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Mazovia |
| Opened: | Not before 2032 if decision made to go ahead with construction |
| Hub: | LOT Polish Airlines |
| Coordinates: | 52.1333°N 20.4833°W |
| Website: | https://www.cpk.pl/en/ |
The Central Communication Port (Polish: Centralny Port Komunikacyjny, CPK) is a megaproject of the government of Poland aimed at the construction of a new, built-from-scratch airport to be located approximately southwest of Warsaw, as well as a new nationwide high-speed rail and controlled-access highway network linking the CPK to much of the rest of the country. The opening of the CPK airport would not mean that Warsaw Chopin Airport would be closed; no official decision has yet been made.[1]
Currently, the planned date of the airport opening is 2032 at the earliest, if the construction goes ahead.[2] At first the airport is to have two runways (4,000 m × 45 m), but eventually four. The combined airport and train station is planned to serve 40 million passengers per year - double the size of Berlin Brandenburg Airport - with the long-term goal of about 100 million passengers per year. Planned train connections will take 15 minutes to Warsaw Central railway station, 25 minutes to Łódź Fabryczna railway station, and 2 hours to most other major Polish cities, such as Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań and Gdańsk.[3] The construction of a high-speed train to Frankfurt (Oder) is also planned, which is to shorten the travel time on the Berlin-CPK route to under 3.5 hours. After the 2023 Polish parliamentary election, the winning October 15 Coalition pledged to re-examine the plans for the airport;[4] in June 2024, the coalition government confirmed that the airport element of the project would continue.[5]
thumb|right|200px|Area of the planned airportThe airport's planned site is about 40 km west of Warsaw, next to the village Stanisławów which is part of Gmina Baranów in Grodzisk Mazowiecki County.[6] The Baranow commune occupies a significant part of the Grodzisk County and, despite its rural character, has an extensive road infrastructure. The A2 autostrada and railway lines run in the immediate vicinity of the potential construction site, and Wrocław (Expressway S8) and Poznań (National road 92) is nearby.[7]
The choice of the location was made after a number of areas were examined. Before recommending Baranów, the Arup consulting company analyzed a list of potential locations, including: Modlin, Wołomin, Sochaczew, Mszczonów, Babsk, Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą, Grójec and Radom-Sadków. Experts took into account the distance from Warsaw, transport accessibility, land accessibility and environmental restrictions, including noise levels. Analyses showed that Baranów offers an optimal location for the project.[8]
Discussion about a new airport to replace Warsaw Chopin Airport date back to at least 1971, during the early years of Edward Gierek's rule.[9] In 1978, Bogusław Jankowski (died 2017)[10] first proposed his idea of a new central airport for Poland,[11] but it was only during the Cabinet of Leszek Miller (2001–2004) that the idea began to be seriously considered. On 12 May 2005, the Civil Aviation Office signed a contract with the Spanish consortium Ineco-Sener to carry out a feasibility study of the central airport.[12] Such a study was nevertheless not actually carried out during the next two years, which was interpreted as a sign that the project of a new big central airport was being postponed until an indeterminate future. Nevertheless, a new airport serving Warsaw was proposed in the government's Transport Infrastructure Development Strategy for 2010–2013.
After the Law and Justice party regained power in 2015 the project gained pace, with the government approving the plan in November 2017.[13]
On 17 June 2018, the residents of the district of Baranów, Grodzisk Mazowiecki County voted down the plan to build the new airport. With 47 percent voter turnout, 84 percent opposed the plan. The referendum was not binding, but Deputy Infrastructure Minister Mikołaj Wild said that the voice of the public would be taken under consideration.[14]
In June 2019, the British Embassy in conjunction with the Solidarity Transport Hub Company held architectural workshops, inviting well-known architectural firms to share their preliminary concepts for what the project might look like. The studies are meant to serve as inspiration in preparing the master plan, and the investor is not obliged to use any of the designs.[15] Terminal concepts were prepared by six top-name design studios: Foster + Partners, Grimshaw Architects, Chapman Taylor, Zaha Hadid Architects, Benoy, and Pascall+Watson:
The English name "Solidarity Transport Hub Poland" was originally proposed for the project, until it was eventually phrased out in 2023.[17]