Copernicus Airport Wrocław

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Copernicus Airport Wrocław Port Lotniczy Wrocław im. Mikołaja Kopernika
IATA: WRO - ICAO: EPWR
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Wrocław Airport Company
Serves		Wrocław
Elevation AMSL		404 ft (123 m)
Coordinates		51°06′09″N, 16°53′09″E
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
12/30	8,202	2,500	Concrete
Statistics (2006)[1]
Number of Passengers			857,931 (+88.95% from 2005)
Aircraft Movements			25,002 (+21.63% from 2005)
Cargo			1,377.8 t (-7.39% from 2004)

Copernicus Airport Wrocław (Polish: Port Lotniczy Wrocław im. Mikołaja Kopernika) (IATA: WRO, ICAO: EPWR) is an international commercial airport in Wrocław in southwestern Poland. The airport is located 10 km southwest of the city centre. It has one runway, one domestic and one international airport terminal and one cargo terminal.

The airport is served by 7 airlines (one more will start operations later this year), operating flights to 15 international destinations (nine more will be added later this year) and 2 domestic destinations.

1 History
2 Development plans
3 Airport facilities
- 3.1 Terminals
4 Airlines and destinations
5 See also
6 External link

[edit] History

The airport was built in 1938 for German military purposes when the area was part of Germany before World War II. It was operated briefly by Soviet forces following the war before being used for civilian purposes in 1945. Services were operated to Warsaw, Łódź, Poznań and Katowice. By 1992 destinations also included Cracow, Rzeszów, Gdańsk, Szczecin and Koszalin.

'Port Lotniczy Wrocław S. A.' was established as a company in January 1992 and Wrocław airport assets operated by the state owned Polish Airports authority were transferred to the company in January 1993.

The first international flights were inaugurated in January 1993, serving Frankfurt, Germany. Significant airport improvements have been completed in recent years. A new international departures terminal was opened in May 1997 followed by a new domestic terminal in November 1998. A Cargo terminal, international arrivals hall, and installation of a new meteorological system were completed in 1999; new fire station and apron extensions in 2000; new air traffic control tower and duty free area in 2001.

On December 6, 2005 the airport was renamed after the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (in Polish: Mikołaj Kopernik). The airport's new name is Copernicus Airport Wrocław (Port Lotniczy Wrocław im. Mikołaja Kopernika). Terminal extensions were officially opened on the same day, increasing the airport's capacity to 750,000 passengers per year.

[edit] Development plans

On 19. 07. 2006 a company (JSK Architekci sp. z o.o.) was chosen to project the development of the airport, including a new passenger terminal (which should increase the capacity to 7 000 000 passengers per year), extending the runway to 3000m and improving the taxiways, aprons and navigation equipment. Moreover, the parking space will be increased to 1000 places and a conference and hotel centre will be built. The first stage - including the increase of capacity to 2 000 000 passengers per year - should finish in 2009.

[edit] Airport facilities

[edit] Terminals

The airport operates modern domestic, international and cargo terminals. The international terminal contains a duty free area in the international departures hall. The cargo terminal, located beside the fire station and air traffic control tower, west of the passenger terminals, has a storage area of 3300 m², a bonded warehouse, freezer and radioactive materials warehouse.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Centralwings (Cork, Dublin, London-Gatwick, Rome-Ciampino)
Cimber Air (Copenhagen)
Direct Fly (Gdańsk, Warsaw)
LOT Polish Airlines (Frankfurt, Munich, Warsaw)
Lufthansa
- Lufthansa Regional operated by Augsburg Airways (Munich)
Ryanair (Dublin, Glasgow-Prestwick,Hahn, Liverpool, London-Stansted, Milan-Orio al Serio, Nottingham/East Midlands, Shannon)
Wizz Air (Dortmund)