Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (, formerly ) is an international airport located northwest of Gdańsk, Poland, not far from the city centres of the Tricity metropolitan area: Gdańsk (), Sopot () and Gdynia (). Since 2004, the airport has been named after Lech Wałęsa, the president of Poland from 1990 to 1995. With 7.4 million passengers served in 2025, it is the third busiest airport in Poland in terms of passenger traffic, behind Warsaw Chopin Airport and Kraków John Paul II International Airport. It is also the seventy-fourth busiest airport in Europe.
History
Early years (1910s–1950s) The first passenger flights in Gdańsk were operated in the year 1919 from an airfield in the Langfuhr district of the Free City of Danzig (now the Wrzeszcz district of Gdańsk). It was possible thanks to a transformation of that military location into a civilian facility. The airport was at that time additionally used for airmail services and by the police. In the next years, the airport continued acquisitions of further areas which allowed it to expand and invest in modern infrastructure. The technical development of Gdansk Wrzeszcz Airport (Danzig-Langfuhr Airport) was followed by the launching of regular routes to Warsaw, Berlin, Moscow, Königsberg and other important cities of the region. The flights were operated by numerous international aviation companies.
The first Polish route was served between Gdańsk, Warsaw and Lviv by Aerolloyd beginning in September 1922. The company initially used Junkers F.13 aircraft on that route. This domestic service was the beginning of the company which later became LOT Polish Airlines, which is still Poland's national carrier.
New location since 1970s As the airport facilities became outdated at the end of the 1960s (including runway lights which forced airport authorities to impose a ban on overnight flights), a new location near the village of Rębiechowo was chosen. The airport had to be built somewhere else also because of further urban development. New areas were needed in order to make it possible for the public investors to construct new buildings for the growing population of Gdańsk. Furthermore, a new, longer runway was necessary in order to allow larger jet airliners to take off and land safely as the era of modern jet aircraft began. The old airport in Wrzeszcz was officially closed on 1 May 1974, and a large housing estate was built on its grounds. Nowadays, only a few remaining elements of the old Wrzeszcz airport infrastructure can be found, including remnants of its main north–south oriented runway in what is now the Zaspa district.
After the closure of the old airport, the new one was built, and it opened in 1974 near the village of Rębiechowo (on westernmost land incorporated into the Gdańsk borough of Matarnia in 1973). The airport acquired its current name in 2004. There was some controversy as to whether the name should be spelled Lech Walesa (without diacritics, but better recognisable in the world) or Lech Wałęsa (with Polish letters, but difficult to write and pronounce for foreigners, the closest English phonetic approximation being "Vawensa").
Since 1993, Gdańsk Airport has been owned 31.45% by the authorities of Pomeranian Voivodeship, 29.45% by the city of Gdańsk, 1.14% by the city of Gdynia, 0.35% by the city of Sopot and 37.61% by Polish Airports State Enterprise. In 2006, the airport served for the first time in its history more than 1 million passengers per year. In 2010, the passengers numbers exceeded 2 million. After the construction of a new modern passenger terminal with extended capacities (the opening took place in April 2012 ahead of the UEFA Euro 2012 football championships), the airport continued its development and it served for the first time over 3 million passengers in a single year in 2014. In summer 2015, airlines flying to and from the airport served over 50 regular routes as well as charter and cargo flights.
Airport infrastructure Airside facilities
Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport has a single asphalt-concrete runway in the direction of 11/29. The runway is long and equipped with a modern ILS CAT IIIb allowing aircraft to land in foggy weather. The decision height established for the approach system in Gdańsk is , whereas the visibility minimum for pilots varies from to , the higher value being required in the initial one-third of the runway's length. In addition, the navigation facilities at the airport are supplemented with a modern wide area multilateration system.
The runway as well as taxiways are equipped with light aids system using LED technology. The lighting of the runway can be remotely controlled from the flight control tower. The runway has eight exit taxiways leading to five parking aprons where up to 18 middle-sized aircraft (e.g. Boeing 737 or Airbus A321) can be parked. The airport also has an extra apron used in winter for de-icing of aircraft. The deicing pad has been constructed in a way which allows keeping up ecological standards.
Passenger terminals Terminal 1
Terminal T1 was inaugurated in 1997 and has primarily served passengers flying to countries outside the Schengen Area in recent years. The facility covers an area of 9,662 square meters. Terminal 1 is currently not operational for passenger services and it is planned to be demolished as soon as the Terminal 2 expansion works begin in the next years.
Terminal 2
The first part of passenger terminal T2 was constructed in 2012, ahead of the UEFA European Football Championship held in Poland and Ukraine. At that time, Terminal T2 had a usable area of 39,433 square metres, catering mainly to departing passengers to Schengen countries. The new terminal was built to the west of the existing terminal T1, parallel to the proposed access road and the existing runway. This building was designed as a hall housing two functional zones - those related to the airport apron (airside) - baggage sorting and waiting areas, as well as zones related to the city side (landside) - ticket and baggage check-in halls (departures), airline offices, dining facilities, and services. The terminal has three above-ground floors and one underground floor. The terminals are connected by a connector at the first-floor level. The terminal was designed in such a way that it could be modularly expanded in subsequent stages, if necessary. An intermediate floor - a corridor for arrivals - had been planned on the aircraft parking apron side. On the apron side, four external staircases were designed on the forecourt of the terminal. The implementation of this project doubled the passenger capacity of Gdańsk Airport, from 2.5 to 5 million passengers annually.
From 2014 to 2015, Terminal T2 underwent expansion, increasing its total area by 5,512 square meters and its usable area by 15,537 square meters. The new part housed the arrivals zone.
Between 2019 and 2022, Gdańsk Airport expanded Terminal T2 with a new western pier, adding 16,000 square meters of usable space. Functionally, it extends Terminal T2 by an additional 180 meters and is 46 meters wide. Structurally, it is a completely separate facility. On the ground floor of the pier, an expanded baggage claim hall has been implemented, where ultimately nine baggage system belts can be installed, along with an extended area for arrival baggage handling, a passport control zone equipped with six document control points for arriving passengers from Non-Schengen and third countries, and communication space to gates for Schengen, Non-Schengen, and third-country flights, along with accompanying facilities: service rooms, airport service areas, technical rooms, and restrooms. On the northern side of the pier, a driveway for buses to two bus gates has been constructed, allowing direct access from the airport apron to the first-floor level.
On the first floor, a departure hall with three dual jet bridges for non-Schengen flights and one for Schengen flights was constructed. Rooms for the Border Guard, Customs Office, and airport services were established. The spatial layout of the hall serves as an extension of the existing terminal T2 hall.
The distinctive multi-level roofing structure and steel framework, constituting a unique feature and recognizable symbol of the Gdańsk Airport, serve as the primary reference point for the design of the new western pier.
The airport offers nine jet bridges, which directly connect passengers to airplanes. As of 2024, these are the only passenger boarding bridges in Poland that are also compatible with turboprop aircraft such as the Bombardier Q400.
Upon arrival in Gdańsk, rental cars are available from several car rental companies. From Terminal T2, passengers can directly access the platforms of the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway.
Airlines and destinations Passenger
Cargo
Statistics Routes
+ Busiest routes from Gdańsk Airport (2024)Rank Airport Passengers Change 2023 / 24 1. Copenhagen (CPH) 391,607 62,0% 2. Stockholm-Arlanda (ARN) 345,188 53,1% 3. Warsaw-Chopin (WAW) 285,701 2,9% 4. London-Luton (LTN) 278,254 7,4% 5. Oslo-Gardermoen (OSL) 265,767 23,5% 6. London-Stansted (STN) 247,580 0,9% 7. Amsterdam (AMS) 218,560 32,6% 8. Sandefjord (TRF) 211,574 7,5% 9. Antalya (AYT) 195,603 15,2% 10. Hamburg (HAM) 180,734 18,3% 11. Bergen (BGO) 176,511 15,1% 12. Dortmund (DTM) 158,692 19,8% 13. Stavanger (SVG) 147,880 15,0% 14. Alicante (ALC) 139,149 140,5% 15. Frankfurt (FRA) 138,826 18,7% 16. Munich (MUC) 137,287 33,4% 17. Barcelona–El Prat (BCN) 135,250 56,1% 18. Gothenburg (GOT) 135,110 1,4% 19. Eindhoven (EIN) 133,236 2,4% 20. Málaga (AGP) 106,601 25,4%
Traffic YearPassengersCargo(t)Flightoperations Numbers % change 1999 249,913 1,472 10,512 2000 269,960 8.0% 1,552 11,586 2001 319,174 18.2% 1,953 14,052 2002 318,033 0.4% 2,211 13,450 2003 365,036 14.8% 2,686 14,346 2004 463,840 27.1% 2,742 17,500 2005 677,946 46.2% 3,433 19,000 2006 1,249,780 84.3% 4,037 24,200 2007 1,708,739 36.7% 4,757 28,200 2008 1,954,166 14.4% 4,610 31,000 2009 1,890,925 3.2% 4,067 30,000 2010 2,232,590 18.1% 4,487 32,000 2011 2,483,000 11.2% 4,943 34,360 2012 2,906,000 17.0% 4,851 37,022 2013 2,843,737 2.1% 4,918 42,041 2014 3,288,180 15.6% 5,658 39,974 2015 3,706,108 12.7% 5,162 40,261 2016 4,004,081 8.0% 4,863 41,079 2017 4,611,714 15.0% 5,500 43,422 2018 4,980,647 8.0% 6,213 46,482 2019 5,376,120 7.9% 6,887 48,882 2020 1,711,281 68.2% 7,028 25,558 2021 2,154,563 25.9% 9,171 29,298 2022 4,576,705 112.9% 10,189 43,987 2023 5,907,280 22.5% 11,483 49,502 2024 6,714,149 13.7% 11,681 56,839 2025 7,393,016 10.1% 10,726 61,554
Airlines
+ Passenger airlines operating on regular routes from GDN (2015–2025): Numbers of passengersArchived copy Airline 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 Wizz Air 2,970,545 2,745,300 2,337,023 1,658,135 797,797 813,244 2,460,163 2,259,969 2,037,832 1,862,137 1,772,840 Ryanair 2,493,376 2,138,000 2,144,934 1,733,101 702,598 442,698 1,262,600 1,194,672 1,312,084 1,026,016 820,590 LOT Polish Airlines 302,431 291,500 284,433 236,235 138,057 142,242 334,731 328,136 328,905 299,902 250,268 Lufthansa 288,989 273,300 219,806 176,990 80,103 63,976 267,812 273,326 246,301 270,349 277,245 KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 235,224 218,700 164,857 139,947 125,561 74,955 151,220 120,231 47,826 0 0 Scandinavian Airlines 194,900 170,000 144,146 102,292 34,270 53,423 213,133 213,384 219,827 199,351 164,628 Norwegian Air Shuttle 154,576 151,800 146,823 112,303 28,784 32,162 154,303 123,874 86,668 79,986 73,829 Finnair 40,324 36,400 0 23,797 1,812 4,964 60,301 51,538 33,131 31,099 21,563 20,162 24,300 19,349 10,223 10,310 ? 22,885 0 0 0 0 Eurowings 13,441 18,221 14,415 14,191 6,656 5,196 6,518 0 0 0 0 Jet2.com 6,721 6,100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 airBaltic 0 0 0 0 0 ? 7,243 0 0 0 0 easyJet 0 0 0 0 0 0 17,348 0 0 0 0 Air Berlin - - - - - - - - 17,891 15,239 69,156 Ukraine International Airlines - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,310 0
Ground transportation
Rail