Wizz Air has expressed its outrage over the decision by the Polish Airport Authorities (PPL ) to close the Etiuda Terminal and effectively double the charges imposed on airlines currently operating out of Etiuda from April 2009.
The airline says PPL has not confirmed any plans for re-accommodating the low-fare airlines other than proposing the "prohibitive charges" commanded for use of the main terminal of Warsaw Airport.
Wizz Air is the largest low-fare carrier at Warsaw Airport and has been operating out of Etiuda Terminal since September 2004. It has made significant investments in setting up and running an operating base that currently employs more than 100 local staff. Warsaw traffic for the airline is expected to surpass 875,000 passengers in 2008, equivalent to 15% of the airport’s total traffic.
Wizz Air believes the PPL plan could jeopardise civil aviation at Poland's capital and that it is a "hostile move against the interest of Poland and the Polish people".
‘We are outraged by the irresponsible and one-sided decision of PPL to wipe Warsaw out from the map of low-cost airlines," declared József Váradi, CEO of Wizz Air. "Even though the constantly changing management of PPL has been talking about opening Modlin airport for low-cost airlines, it was not able to deliver any progress over the past five years.
"This incompetent decision is only aimed at protecting LOT, the airline which has been wasting hundreds of millions of zlotys of Polish tax payers money on Centralwings," Váradi added scathingly. "Once it failed, they decided to shut down the low-cost terminal to protect the struggling mother company. This goes against the spirit of free market economy and EU antimonopoly regulations."
Wizz Air has publicly requested revision of Warsaw Airport's plans "in the spirit of the interest of the Polish people and the prospect of Polish civil aviation".
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