Ryanair and Warsaw-Modlin Airport announce $400M joint expansion plan

Europe’s largest airline, Ryanair, has announced that it will invest $400 million in Poland’s Warsaw-Modlin Airport (WMI) as part of a multi-year agreement aimed at more than tripling its annual passenger numbers at the airport to over five million by 2030. Under the agreement, which was signed on July 8, 2025, the Irish airline committed to doubling the number of aircraft it has based at the airport from four units to eight. and to launch up to 25 new routes from the gateway in the coming years.

Alongside new-based aircraft, the expansion is expected to create over 200 jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers, with an additional 400 roles in airport operations, including passenger services, security and retail at the expanded airport. As part of the deal with Ryanair, Warsaw-Modlin Airport has committed to expanding its infrastructure by September 2027. The details of the plan include the addition of four new passenger check-in desks, bringing the total to eight, and four new aircraft parking stands, increasing the total to 12.

The signing of the deal is an important step for both the airport itself and Ryanair as the airline. Currently, the budget carrier is the only scheduled airline serving the airport, although it is soon to be joined by Middle Eastern low-cost airline Air Arabia, which announced new services to Sharjah in the UAE earlier in July 2025.

Multi-year growth agreement between Ryanair and Modlin Airport has officially been SIGNED! Current traffic of 1.5M passengers PA will TREBLE to 5M+ by 2030.Facility developments will also allow us to: double our fleet add 25 new routes create 200+ new jobs pic.twitter.com/bRy6Cv3vFN— Ryanair Press Team (@RyanairPress) July 8, 2025 The relationship between Ryanair and the airport authorities has faced some strain in the past over fees and other matters, which have led to an overall drop in passengers using the airport by over 50% since 2023. Following years of operating under what Modlin described as an unfavourable contract, new airport charges introduced in 2023 prompted Ryanair to reduce its operations at the airport, cutting its routes and the number of based aircraft. In 2024, the airport served 2.8 million passengers, making it the seventh busiest in the country. Its main competitor, Warsaw-Chopin Airport (WAW), handled over 21.2 million passengers in 2024.

InsectWorld / ShutterstockWhat the parties say

“After three years of declining traffic at Warsaw-Modlin Airport, we are pleased to sign this ambitious, multi-year agreement with the airport’s new management team,” Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary. “In the next three years, thanks to the close cooperation between Ryanair and the airport, Warsaw-Modlin will again be the fastest-growing airport in Poland, fostering the development of tourism and generating new jobs in the Mazovia region,” he added.

Jacek Kowalski, president of Warsaw-Modlin Airport, praised the new deal with Ryanair, saying the facility “aspires to become one of the leading regional airports in the country, to the ‘first league’ of European airports serving low-cost airlines”.

“Warsaw Modlin Airport and Ryanair, the largest airline in Europe, continue their strategic cooperation, which has played a key role in the development of the airport,” said Kowalski. “For over a decade, Modlin and Ryanair have been building a strong partnership, which has resulted in joint milestones, from the opening of the airport in 2012, through the successive expansion of the route network and the number of rotations, to record-breaking transport results. Only by continuing this cooperation is further dynamic development possible. Today, Modlin Airport has an operational capacity of 3.5 million passengers per year, and joint plans assume impressive growth in the coming years.”

Warsaw-Modlin Airport“We thank Ryanair for recognizing the potential of Mazovia and the Warsaw agglomeration from the very beginning, making Modlin its key operational base in central Poland,” he added. “Thanks to the expected investments and mutual trust, the airport aspires to be among the leading regional airports in the country – to the ‘first league’ of European airports serving low-cost airlines. Cooperation with Ryanair means not only impressive numbers, it is also a direct impulse for the local economy, new jobs, infrastructure development, and promotion of the region among millions of travelers from all over Europe.”

“We look to the future with optimism, together we are using the full potential of Modlin and the largest carrier in Europe, building a strong centre of cheap flights for the whole of central Poland,” he concluded.

About Ryanair in Poland

Ryanair is Poland’s largest carrier by passenger numbers. Last year it transported almost 17 million passengers in the country, more than twice as many as Polish flag carrier LOT, according to data from the Civil Aviation Authority of Poland. Indeed, the airline has its own Polish subsidiary, Buzz, which, according to ch-aviation, operates a fleet of 73 aircraft, which comprises 54 Boeing 737-800s and 19 Boeing 737-8-200 MAX aircraft.

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