The new extension has replaced the old building, famous for its distinctive violet-red roof colour, creating a single, functionally and architecturally coherent whole with the part of the terminal currently in use.
The new seven-storey facility boasts 1,300 rooms and offices on 60,000 sq m of space, housing 48 check-in desks and six self-service check-in kiosks, with the possibility to add more in the future. In the new arrivals and departures halls there are also ticket desks, travel companies, additional car rentals, as well as airline offices.
The newly redeveloped part of the terminal offers 15 new shops with a total area of nearly 3,000 sq m. The new outlets include such well-known luxury brands as: Michael Kors, Ermenegildo Zegna, Emporio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Burberry and Ralph Lauren. As a novelty, there is also an airport Samsung Brand Store with the brand’s latest products, one of the few such airport stores in the world, and an M&M children’s clothes and toys shop.
Passengers are also in for a big change when it comes to the food offer, with 10 new bars and restaurants on 2,500 sq m, including the long-awaited fast food outlets, such as McDonald’s. There are also three new cafes – Espressamente Illy, McCafé and Bread&Co, the latter with an extended menu, and two spots for those who appreciate restaurant dining – The Flame and Misa. The modernised terminal has a food court area with three outlets serving a diverse menu from fast food to Italian and Polish cuisine. The outlets have a single payment system, making it easy for passengers to order meals. Another new addition improving the comfort of travellers, the new building provides direct access to the underground railway station, significantly shortening the time needed to get to the train.
“Investing in the development of the terminal is part of our thought-through business strategy for Chopin Airport. Our long-term aim is to turn Warsaw into a major European aviation hub. We want to become Central Europe’s leading airport handling over 20 million passengers per year. I am confident this objective can be achieved and the opening of the new terminal is a first step towards that end,” said Michal Kaczmarzyk, director of Warsaw Chopin Airport.
The modernisation of the terminal cost nearly 400 million zlotys, with 91 million zlotys worth of funding provided by the European Union under activity 6.3 of the Operational Programme “Infrastructure and Environment 2007-2013”. The consortium of Hochtief Polska S.A. and Hochtief Solutions AG was the general contractor of the project.
Source: Chopin Airport
Photo © Dariusz Kłosiński