Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, Europe’s largest low cost carrier, in an interview published this week with Onet criticized the idea of a Central Communication Port.
“We’re going back to old-fashioned ideas to build great palaces between farmlands at a time when you can invest smarter and more sensibly in what is already working well,” he said. In his opinion, Poland should develop other ports – for example the one in Radom. The Irishman has gone so far as to say that the CPK is a “stupid idea”.
“Ryanair’s CEO is very fond of shocking, and by making untrue theses, he consistently promotes the interest of his airline. “- it reported shortly after Onet CPK press office.
Ryanair reacted to this statement by telling the portal that the construction of the CPK was “a waste of 30 billion zlotys on a sand castle in the form of an airport in the middle of nowhere.” The company likened it to “investing in Bitcoin” and even to a financial pyramid.
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President of the CPK: On the thief, the hat is gore
The statements of Ryanair and its president were referred to on Twitter by the president of CPK Mikołaj Wild.
“On the thief, a gore cap. Unlike Ryanair, CPK has never received illegal public aid. Instead of resigning from CPK, Polish taxpayers should save by resigning from subsidies. flights Ryanair from regional ports “- he wrote.
Wild didn’t have to wait long for a reply.
“Billions of zlotys wasted on” CPK – a castle on the sand “is public aid in a situation where CPK does not operate, there are no passengers or airlines” – Ryanair responded on Twitter.
“These billions could help finance the losses of the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency in connection with Covid or be spent on Polish schools, hospitals, teachers and nurses. Ryanair did not receive any zloty from the Polish government or from Polish taxpayers, while the CPK wastes billions of zlotys “- the company emphasized.
CPK and tens of millions of passengers
According to the government’s assumptions, the Central Communication Port is to be built by 2027. The first passengers are to arrive in October this year. Initially, the airport is to handle 30-45 million passengers annually. Ultimately, it is to serve up to 100 million people a year. According to current estimates cost construction of the CPK is to be completed in the amount of PLN 35 billion.
In January 2021, the government adopted a list of investments accompanying the construction of the Central Communication Port. One of the pillars of the project is the construction of high-speed rail, which in the future is to enable access from any Polish agglomeration to CPK and Warsaw in a maximum of 2.5 hours. For this purpose, a new high-speed railway line will be built, which will connect Łódź, STH and Warsaw.
The list also includes the construction of railway junctions towards Gdańsk and Słupsk, Katowice and Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Kraków, Poznań and Kutno, as well as Wrocław and Wałbrzych, Czêstochowy and Opole, Radom and Rzeszów. The list of road investments accompanying the STH includes, among others, the extension of the A2 motorway in the section Łódź-Warsaw for an additional lane in each direction.
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