A huge new £26billion “mega-airport” set to rival London Heathrow is to be built in Poland. Building work on Port Polska is set to start next year on the flights hub which will lie between Warsaw and the city of Łódź, some 75 miles south-west of the Polish capital.

Once built, the new facility will cover about 450,000 square meters, which is almost three times the size of the current largest terminal in Poland, Chopin Airport. The main building will be connected to jetties taking passengers directly to their planes, with about 140 check-in desks.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk vowed earlier this month to reinvigorate the project, which was approved in 2017 but became mired in a corruption scandal when the previous government sold 160 hectares of land needed for the hub to a private company.

Mr Tusk has said the airport will revolutionise travel across Poland and beyond, according to remarks reported by Euronews.

He told an industry conference earlier in December that the hub would be managed by Poles and Polish companies would profit from the venture.

Plans for the airport include two runways measuring about 4,000 metres, with scope to add a third and even a fourth later.

With an ambition to welcome 40 million passengers per year, Port Polska’s backers want to see it in the same league as London Heathrow, which welcomed a record 84 million passengers in 2024.

The new airport is due to open to passengers in 2032 along with the first section of a High-Speed ​​Rail route linking Warsaw and Łódź.

High-speed rail connections are due to be completed by 2035, connecting with Wrocław and Poznań.

Plans for the new hub also include a new passenger terminal and railway station, with designs for the airport led by UK architects, Foster + Partners.

The architecture firm’s design includes a plaza, “animated by lush greenery”, bringing together air, rail and road transport. A continuous, vaulted roof would direct passengers from the plaza towards their planes.

An announcement on a tender for piling work for the terminal building, marking the first phase of construction, is expected soon. Completion of the work is planned for the end of 2027.