We are in the process of handing over to civilian airports nearly 5,000 ha of land from the Military Property Agency so far mainly used by military airfields to local government bodies of various levels. The procedures are complicated, hundreds of plots of land are changing their legal status and three ministries are involved of Defence, Treasury and Infrastructure.

Another very important element involves the preparation of amendments to the airports act in Poland. Both the previous regulations and the new government draft came about in a situation of very fast growth of the airport market, 25-30% growth in passengers annually. Now we have a completely different situation due to the crisis. Competition has become tougher, all the market players have changed their strategy, and the attitudes have toughened in all maters relating to costs. Particularly the rapidly growing costs of safety and antiterrorist security and the issue of subsidising those costs from public funds are raising a lot of controversy.

How is the government going to deal with the growth of the market and airport transport in this situation? I would like to explain and at the same time clarify some misunderstandings surrounding the issue of a central airport for Poland. The analysis report that the Ministry of Infrastructure commissioned is neither a project nor a declaration to build such an airport. Having the right resources for the first time, we want to receive for the first time serious analysis about the growth of the airport market in Poland. We are also asking the question, taking into account all circumstances, whether in future it will be possible that investment in the building of a new airport in an as yet undefined location can be profitable. We are aware of the fact that with tight government budgets in the next few years there will not be the resources for such a large investment. However, we are asking whether it is possible to create such conditions that an investment like this could become a profitable venture for business.

Another direction in the government strategy would be to look at what has happened in the railways, that is, to include local government to develop this sector. Looking at the traffic at regional airports, we want to know why 90% of flights between Polish cities go through Warsaw? It is merely a lack of representation of regional interests? Getting local government involved in organising rail passenger transport has already resulted with new networks, the emergence of competition, new trains and new quality of service. Perhaps one could count on a similar result on the local airport market.