Szczecin 2011-01-11
Goleniow airport.
Geographic coordinates: 53.584N 14.902E.
History of the Goleniów Civil Airport. 1967 year.
At the turn of 1966-1967, a decision was made to transfer civilian passenger traffic to the Goleniów Airport from the Szczecin Dąbie Airport. Therefore, a small civilian part was separated at the military airport in Goleniów. The same was done at other Polish airports; Krakow, Koszalin, Katowice, Zielona Gora. On May 23, 1967, the civil airport in Goleniów was opened and passenger flights were started, operated by the then only carrier, PLL LOT. In 1973, Goleniów Airport had regular connections with Warsaw, Gdańsk, Katowice and Kraków. The airlines operated An-24 turboprops, and exceptionally Il-18 aircraft.
In 1976-1977, the most modern airport in Poland was built at that time. However, a clear increase in transport was not recorded. The 1980s were characterized by practically survival, because there was practically no investment in domestic aviation and planes built in the 1960s were still flown.
Social and economic transformations initiated in 1989 also led to changes in ownership of the airport's assets. The military decided to partially vacate the facility, with the emphasis that the aviation character of the facility must be preserved.
On September 30, 1998, the company Port Lotniczy Szczecin - Goleniów Sp. z o. o. The application for registration of the Company was submitted on December 2, 1998, and the license process was completed with effective registration. The shareholders, in accordance with the Company's founding act registered in the 11th Commercial Division of the District Court in Szczecin of June 7, 1999, are the following entities: 1 Przedsiębiorstwo Państwowe "Porty Lotnicze" Warszawa. 2 City of Szczecin. 3 Goleniów Commune. 4 West Pomeranian Regional Development Agency. 5 In 2005, the West Pomeranian Voivodeship joined the Company.
The purpose of the Company's operation is to operate a civil passenger airport located in Glewice (Goleniów commune). The total area of land used by the Company currently amounts to 371 hectares, of which the so-called operational department of the airport covers 253.8 hectares. The rest of the land still belongs to the military. The property of the Company is; RWY, DK, all PPS, passenger terminal and more.
Since 1999, the Company has started many well-thought-out and necessary investments, significantly increasing the comfort and safety of passengers. Unfortunately, we will not read about these investments in the Polish-language press, only because they are not accompanied by curses, corruption and sensationalism. For this reason, while writing this article, we feel a lack of information on such a positive development of the former military airport.
In 1999, the Company started the construction of a new airport terminal (terminal) for domestic and foreign check-in. A fence has been erected in the operational area of the airport. RWY was repaired in its final sections. ILS system installed. RWY lighting has been modified. The former "Pilot's House" was modernized and renovated, intended for airport security services and sanitary aviation, and a motel with 9 rooms. The former KOL (Airport Security Headquarters) base was modernized and renovated for the needs of technical facilities. Drainage works were carried out, extending the drainage collector.
In the period of 2001-2002, further investments were started. The entire new terminal with complete networks and installations as well as the boiler room was put into use, namely its first stage. The renovation of the "Pilot's House" in the catering section has been completed. PP Airports built the Air Area Control Radar. The construction of the Air Traffic Control Tower has begun. In 2004, the construction of a new, modern and elegant air traffic control tower began, which was commissioned in November 2005. In 2006, the second stage of the terminal was commissioned, thanks to which the airport is able to handle over one million passengers.
Airport currently. 2010 year.
Currently, the airport is operated only as a civilian one. Few people remember its military character. The Szczecin-Goleniów Airport currently bears the honorable name of NSZZ "Solidarity". It has the IATA code - SZZ and the ICAO code - EPSC. The airport has coordinates; north latitude 53 degrees 35 minutes 05 seconds, east longitude 14 degrees 54 minutes 07 seconds. It lies at an altitude of 47 m above sea level. The fire category of the airport is IX.
The current development of the airport seems to be unthreatened. One of the reasons is the lack of competition, as the airport is the only passenger port of the Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship. And the distances to the important cities of the region are small nowadays; 40 km - Szczecin, 6 km - Goleniów, 100 km - Koszalin, 50 km - Międzyzdroje, 95 km - Gorzów.
Its range of services covers the population of 1.6 million Poles. To this we can add 0.5 million people living abroad, 80 km away, for whom the Polish Airport can be a good alternative. In the ranking of Polish Airports in terms of air traffic, it is ranked 9th.
Goleniow Airport statistics; 2001 - 69,890 passengers 152,000 tons of goods 6,415 air operations. 2002 - 76,816 passengers, 242,000 tons of goods, 6,425 air operations. 2003 - 87,435 passengers, 335,000 tons of goods, 7,687 air operations. 2004 - 90,811 passengers, 342,000 tons of goods, 3,139 air movements. 2005 - 101,801 passengers, 673,000 tons of goods, 3,002 air operations. 2006 - 176,670 passengers, 488,000 tons of goods, 3,137 air operations. 2007 - 228,071 passengers 1,236,000 tons of goods 3,268 air operations. 2008 - 302,486 passengers 1,774,000 tons of goods 3,595 air operations. 2009 - 296,234 passengers 181,000 tons of goods 11,009 air operations. 2010 - 280,213 passengers 119,000 tons of goods 11,258 air operations. 2011 - 262,089 passengers 143,000 tons of goods 10,397 air operations. 2012 - 356,006 passengers 78,000 tons of goods 11,767 air operations. 2013 - 347,744 passengers 41,000 tons of goods 11,152 air operations. 2014 - 287,029 passengers 21,000 tons of goods 8253 air operations. 2015 - 412,547 passengers 66,000 tons of goods 8,326 air operations. 2016 - 467,877 passengers 575,000 tons of goods 8,757 air operations. 2017 - 578,691 passengers 150,000 tons of goods 8,038 air operations. 2018 - 598,971 passengers 37,000 tons of goods 9,133 air operations. 2019 - 576,072 passengers 11,000 tons of goods 8,897 air operations.
Already in 2004, Goleniów Airport had several good connections; Warsaw - 33 x weekly, Munich - 7 x weekly, Egypt - 2 x weekly (tourist charter), Turkey - 1 x weekly (tourist charter). Regular passenger flights are operated mainly by low-cost operators and our national LOT Polish Airlines. The group of low-cost carriers includes Ryanair (Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Flights to; London-Stansted, Dublin), Norwegian (Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Flights to; Oslo). Domestic flights were operated mainly by EuroLOT (LOT Polish Airlines). Goleniów-Okęcie connection. ATR-72, ATR-42 aircraft. The second domestic operator is Jetair, which flies Jetstream planes to Poznań-Ławica and Kraków-Balice. Charter flights are performed by carriers; Norwegian, Austrian, Germanwings, Malev, Jetair, Iceland. Planes fly to; Antalya (Turkey), Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt), Tunis (Tunisia), Zakynthos (Greece). Thanks to this, Goleniów has already hosted a Boeing 747 aircraft.
Getting to the airport.
How to get to the airport by public transport? The airport is connected to Szczecin by the LOT minibus line, which has its starting point at the LOT office at al. Liberation 17. Departure takes place 2 hours 20 minutes before each departure. The airport has a similar minibus connection with Koszalin at the Arka hotel or the PKP railway station and with Kołobrzeg at the SKANPOL hotel. These connections are the aftermath of the liquidation of civil air traffic at Zegrze Pomorskie Airport in the 1990s. The starting stop is in Koszalin at the railway station, and departures are 3 hours 20 minutes before each departure. The route leads through Karlino, Płoty, Nowogard to the airport. The rates are calculated in such a way that the arrival at the airport takes place about 80 minutes before departure. Departures from the airport take place 20 minutes after the plane lands. Tickets can be ordered, bought in advance or from the driver.
There is also a charter bus line Pleciuga, which connects the Main Railway Station Szczecin - Szczecin Dąbie - Goleniów Airport. The charter line is tailored to tourist charters and runs only on these days. The bus leaves the airport 3 hours before departure and leaves the airport 40 minutes after landing. The ticket price is PLN 14.50.
Since October 30, 2005, on routes from Szczecin and Koszalin, Interglobus has launched a permanent daily bus connection for Ryanair to London.
Of course you can get to the airport by TAXI or private car. There are two car parks for cars; P1 daily, P2 multi-day. The P1 24-hour car park has 200 parking spaces (for cars and buses): up to 10 minutes: free, 1 hour: PLN 5, 2 hours: PLN 8, each subsequent hour: PLN 1, 1 day: PLN 30, each next day : PLN 15/day. Promotions: for passengers of charter flights: - 20%. Multi-day car park P2 with 150 parking spaces: up to 10 minutes: free, 1 hour: PLN 5, 2 hours: PLN 8, 7 days: PLN 70, 14 days: PLN 105, 21 days: PLN 135, each next week: PLN 20 PLN/day.
Theoretically, it is possible for passengers to travel by train, but it is 7 km from the Goleniów Railway Station to the airport, and the price of a bus ride from the station to the airport is even PLN 15 per person.
Access by rail is available at the Airport - Szczecin-Goleniów Airport.
The railway line No. 402 runs by the airport. The railway line No. 402 starts in Koszalin and ends in Goleniów. The route is 142 km long, single-track, non-electrified. The route runs near the airport on the Nowogard-Goleniów section. From the side of the Osina railway station there is a railway siding, which was used to deliver goods to the airport when it was a military airport. This siding is no longer in use. Going further towards Goleniów, there is the Mosty train stop. After the Mosty stop, there is a new railway siding, which turns left, to the north and runs across the airport parallel to the RWY, from the north-east to the passenger terminal. The section is single-track, non-electrified. There is a train stop here and the track ends. To change direction, the driver must go to the cab at the other end of the train. The train returns along the same track. When the train is to continue to Goleniów, it turns left, west and re-enters route 402. Thus, trains to the airport can enter both Goleniów and Nowogard.
Goleniów airport - infrastructure. 2010.
Photo description: 1 Main access road. 2 Location of the present car parks P-1, P-2. 3 Former combat aircraft centering zone. 4 Terminal and platform slab. 5 DS (RWY). 6 Hangar, airport guard and air traffic control tower. 7 Former combat aircraft deployment zone. 8 Fuel composition. 9 Barracks complex. 10 Mosty-Osiedle.
The airport has one RWY, with dimensions of 2,500 m x 60 m, an area of 150,000 square meters, located in the direction 13/31, i.e. NW-SE. Asphalt concrete surface. For over 50 years of its existence, this road has been lengthened, widened and strengthened several times. There is a possibility of further extension of the DS or construction of another one. Current DS is able to accept any aircraft, including the largest B-747, B-777, DC-10, MD-11, C-141, Il-76. Its operational capacity at the moment is 12 operations / h.
Parallel to the RWY, on its western side, there was an emergency ground - grassy RWY, with dimensions of 1,800 m x 100 m. From the north-eastern side, 300 m from the RWY, the main road is located, which in its present form is 2,000 m long. The surface is asphalt. It connects with RWY through five DKs. Their average width is 20 m. The total area of DK is 56,000 square meters.
For its size, the airport has an unusually large area of parking areas. There are four. In the northern part of the airport, between the terminal and the RWY, there is a state-of-the-art PPS (aircraft apron - platform apron) with an area of 17,000 square meters, intended for accommodating large passenger planes. On the other hand, the slab with the largest area is placed next to the main DK. Dimensions of approximately 400 m x 70 m and an area of 27,000 square meters. This plane is used by smaller passenger planes. The next two aprons are located in the south-eastern part of the airport. They were used by military aircraft. PPS No. 3 has an area of 9,200 square meters, and PPS No. 4 has 15,000 square meters.
Since the airport was a typical military airport for many years, it could not lack the zones for the deployment of aircraft. The first was located in the northern part of the airport in the area of today's terminal. It had about 20 individual parking spaces, hidden among the trees. In the 1960s, most of them were surrounded on three sides by an earth embankment about 4 m high. Today, you can see 4 more such stands next to the terminal. The second centering position was located in the south-eastern part of the airfield. About 10 shelter-hangars were built here in the 1970s.
At the airport there is one typical military hangar built at the turn of the 60s and 70s.
Goleniów Airport is currently equipped with one of the most beautiful and modern Air Traffic Control Towers in the Republic of Poland. In 2005, it was put into operation. It cost PLN 12 million. It is 36.6 meters high. The previous tower was only 8 m high. It no longer fulfilled its function properly, so in the period 2002-2005, a mobile tower was used. The tower and the terminal were designed by Mr. Leszek Szostak. The architecture refers to the maritime theme. The terminal is shaped like a ship, and the tower symbolizes the master's office of the seaport. The new tower houses electronic equipment worth €1.5 million. It was financed from the funds of the Polish Airports enterprise. The equipment allows you to supervise landings without risk with visibility up to 400 m and cloud ceiling up to 90 m. Theoretically, the plane can land in worse conditions, but then it will be blind on the ground in fog and taxiing may turn out to be tragic. There are three positions for controllers in the tower. In total, the air traffic control center serves 30 people. The investor ensured the highest standards of work for the flight control tower staff, which has an obvious impact on the safety of landings and take-offs. There are also plenty of safeguards that will allow the controllers to work in the event of any failure. For example, three independent sources of energy guarantee the continuity of operation of devices, computer system, communication apparatus, radars, etc. Moreover, a modern UPS system will guarantee operation and power the facility even if the three mentioned sources prove unreliable. The Szczecin Air Traffic Control Center introduces new quality standards for this type of facilities, especially when it comes to radar data transmission systems, meteorological data or radio communication devices made on the basis of the latest technologies. The Goleniów Flight Control Center supervises flights in the north-western part of Poland. The equipment allows you to track flights over a much wider area, both in the area of Berlin and Scandinavia.
Terminal. 2009 year.
Services available at the airport; PeKaO S.A. ATM, Polish Post Office, Exchange office, Chapel, Room for mothers with children, First aid point, Observation deck open 20 minutes before landing until departure. Press room, bookstore, shop, cafes, bar-pub. There is also a conference room at the airport which can accommodate up to 20 people. Car rental companies: AVIS, EUROPCAR, HERTZ have their offices at the airport.
Currently (March 2023) from the Szczecin Goleniów Airport named NSZZ Solidarność you can fly to: Dublin, Liverpool, Oslo - Gardermoen, Oslo - Torp, London - Stansted, Warsaw - Modlin. Additionally, there are charter flights to: Antalya (Turkey), Burgas (Bulgaria).
Address: AIRPORT IM. NSZZ SOLIDARITY, SZCZECIN - GOLENIÓW, Glewice, 72-100 Goleniów. Phone +48 (91) 481 74 00 or +48 (91) 418 28 64.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman