The head of Łódź’s airport is set to be removed, according to Gazeta Wyborcza, as a long-running dispute over public subsidies for flights reaches a turning point. A supervisory board meeting convened at the request of the city is expected to withdraw support for Anna Midera, who currently leads Port Lotniczy Łódź.
Aleksandra Hac, who heads the promotion bureau at the Łódź City Office, told the newspaper that the session had been called for Monday and that the recommendation for Midera would be withdrawn. According to unofficial information, her successor is likely to be Robert Makowski, the current vice-president of the airport company.
Makowski has been employed at the airport since 2012, starting as a marketing specialist. He later managed sales of non-aviation services and was in charge of business and route development before becoming commercial director and then vice-president.
A subsidy plan that stirred the city
The background to the reshuffle is a contentious plan to spend public money on reviving passenger traffic. In December, criticism mounted when it emerged that the city of Łódź and the Marshal’s Office were willing to spend tens of millions of zlotys to boost the airport. The City Office proposed a subsidy of 67.5 million zlotys over five years for an airline that would launch new routes from the airport and promote Łódź abroad.
As WNP.PL reported at the time, the idea provoked objections mainly within the city. Critics argued that the money would end up with Ryanair, the only regular carrier operating from Łódź, and that there was little point in such spending because the airport had been loss-making for years.
Midera defends the airport’s promotional role
Anna Midera, who has defended the plan in WNP.PL, argued that Łódź is the third-largest city in Poland but remains largely invisible internationally. She said tourists associate Poland mainly with Warsaw, Krakow, Wrocław and Gdańsk, and that those cities attract large numbers of visitors. The aim, she explained, was broad promotion of Łódź and encouraging passengers to come for weekend breaks, for which the city is well suited.
Source: WNP.PL, Photo: Mariola Anna S / Shutterstock
