Contact

At the end of March 2008, the stipulation that passengers from countries which have joined the Schengen Agreement have to be handled separately from other air travelers came into force in Poland, as it already had elsewhere. Terminal 2 met all the structural requirements for this, but just two months before the planned opening it was still not completely ready to start operations. To be able to keep the time-schedule nevertheless, HOCHTIEF AirPort supported PPL in the remaining preparations. The aviation specialists thereupon analyzed the passenger flows and flight plans in order to define handling routes and prepare detailed gate and check-in allocation plans. HOCHTIEF AirPort’s efforts together with PPL’s commitment concluded with a timely opening of Terminal 2.

This enabled significant shortcomings in the field of security checks, baggage handling and Schengen/non-Schengen passenger routing to be identified and eliminated in good time for the opening. What made the real success particularly evident was the fact that Polish airline LOT was able to transfer all its departure flights from the old Terminal 1 to the new Terminal 2 without causing unpleasant waiting times, baggage losses or cancelled flights.

To achieve this success, HOCHTIEF AirPort had arranged for a resumption of negotiations between the system suppliers and Warsaw Airport and also supported PPL in talks with the airlines, ground handling contractors and concession holders at the terminal. Among other things, it helped to organize the auditing of security measures, certifications and licenses, and in training airport staff. In addition, the HTA experts initiated cooperation between PPL and the IT system providers.

In this, HTA drew on the expertise of specialists at its airport holdings in Athens, Düsseldorf, Tirana and Budapest. Project realization support was also provided by HOCHTIEF‘s Polish subsidiary HOCHTIEF Polska.

Dr. Reinhard Kalenda, CEO of HOCHTIEF AirPort, highlights the challenges faced in a consultancy project of this kind: "To get a terminal ready for operation within such a limited timeframe is a highly demanding task. Depending on the volume and complexity of the handling operations, it may well take six months to carry out the necessary tests. Here, we completed the work in just two months - absolutely smoothly." PPL also had benefited from the broad network of experts, both within the HTA airport portfolio and in the HOCHTIEF Group as a whole.