Sieć połączeń lotniczych jako efekt zmian popytu na podróże lotnicze w Polsce po akcesji do Unii Europejskiej

Abstract

Following the accession of Poland to the European Union and liberalization of aviation market the number of people travelling by air has rapidly increased. In five years (2004-2008) a three-fold growth has been observed. In 2008 more than 20 million passengers were served by Polish airports. An increase in mobility of the Polish society was basically conditioned by two factors. First, a few countries opened their labor markets immediately after Poland gained EU-membership, causing migrations. Second, low cost carriers began operating to/from Polish airports and by offering much lower fares than legacy carriers, stimulated demand for air travel. In effect, the airline network has changed. Nearly all regional airports now have international connections, being served mainly by low cost airlines. Initially, the most popular destinations were those in Great Britain, Ireland and Germany. At a later stage, they were joined by southern Scandinavian and Italian cities.