Tiger sharpens its claws

About 45 km south west of Warsaw, a 800 hectare stretch of land, lying between Mszczonów, Żyrardów and the Mariańska forest, could be the site of a development which will transform the district

Mszczonów is the probable location of a new major airport serving Warsaw, and what in some circles is being referred to as the “Central Poland Airport”. This became more likely after the town came out on top in a feasibility study into several sites around Warsaw carried out by Spanish consortium Ineco-Sener for the Ministry of Transport. Mszczonów is a small town, but is notable for being the home of two logistics parks: one developed by FM Logistic and Europa Park by Europa Distribution Centre. There is also a new industrial park to be developed not far away, at Łubna on the road between Piaseczno and Góra Kalwaria: the 40,000 sqm CDC Distribution Park from Real Management, to be completed in Q3 of 2007.

Tiger, tiger, burning bright

The presence of local warehousing might itself have been a factor in the conclusions of the feasibility study, as well as the efforts of the mayor of Mszczonów, Józef Kurek, and the local council, who refer to the town in their literature as the “Mazovian Tiger”. Whilst having a major airport in the vicinity is bound to have a dramatic effect on the local economy – in terms of employment for example – what would be the particular effect upon the logistics centres in the area?

Paweł Piasecki, the development director of Europa Distribution Center, maintains that the main benefit for Europa Park is in terms of improvements to the communication links to the area that would have be undertaken. As he says: “What will happen is that Mszczonów will become really well connected to the rest of the country. The local transport infrastructure would have to be upgraded, in terms of the railway and motorway system – and this will be one of the main advantages for investors in the area.” Already there have been improvements made to the local road system, necessitated by the presence of these logistics parks: “All the roads built from the town to the park were built by us. Electricity and water systems had to be installed by us. We co-financed the flyover and the bypass that will come soon to Mszczonów. Most of the funding for this is provided by the EU. We are responsible on an ongoing basis for infrastructure such as laybys and access roads. The fact that we are here and these improvements have already been made could have been a factor influencing the decision of the feasibility study.”

Well connected

The location of the town is already advantageous for logistic centres, as it lies on the E67(8) major route from Warsaw to highly populated and industrialized Silesia in the south-west of the country, and so too is the fact that it is between the capital (45km) and Poland’s second largest city Łódź (90km). National road 50 – the Warsaw outer ring road

– also bypasses the town, and the area has traditionally been well-connected in terms of railways. But what could have really swung the decision of Ineco-Sener is that the A2 motorway, running from the German to the Belarussian border, will pass straight through the district. The section from the German border is due for completion in 2010, with the whole motorway scheduled to be finished by 2013.

The type of clients catered for by the industrial parks is likely to undergo something of a transformation if the airport comes to the area. Currently Europa Park has 3 main types of client: logistics operators, such as Maersk and Fiege; large retailers, for example Plus Discount and Jysk, who prefer to have centralized distribution centres; and light manufacturing outsourced from more established western economies, taking advantage of the lower operating costs in Poland. Paweł Piasecki, whilst emphasizing that flexibility and adaptability are crucial to the success of Europa Distribution Center, describes how he expects the situation will change: “Airports generate demand for skilled people – we could service this. Courier services and perishable goods deliverers like to be close to airports. Electronics goods also – not massive and bulky

– but high value. Warsaw is the biggest market in Poland, and Mszczonów is a perfect distribution centre for such goods. Airports also need cleaning services, and these will need to be supplied. So all this would just add to the potential pool of clients.”

For Yann Belgy, the general manager for Poland of FM Logistic, the situation is similar for his company: “Airfreight is currently not in our scope of services. However, with the presence of an international airport in the vicinity, such services could be developed in partnership with specialized companies, thus allowing us to offer to our customers and potential customers a wider scope of services.”

Labour shortage

Could the prospect of a major new airport, however, bring with it any problems for logistics parks? One possible cloud on the horizon might be that the supply cannot cope with the increased demand for labour. There are currently around 6,000 people living in Mszczonów and 12,000 within the whole borough. According to Europa Distribution Center, 2,000 people already work in Europa Park. Paweł Piasecki does not seem too concerned: “Wages may go up if there is a shortage of labour. Once Europa Park is finished, 3,500-4,000 people will be needed to work there. However, the wage increases will probably not materialize – there are 27,000 people living within 30 minutes of the park and high unemployment in the district. The low cost of labour is one of the main reasons why operations are moved from the west in the first place.”

Yann Belgy believes, however, that: “The local labour market is likely to quickly become too small and we can expect immigration to this area from other parts of the country.” He adds that this would intensify the need for “the development of infrastructure – both rail and road ... to allow these people access to their place of work.”

Another big bonus for logistics developers in having an airport nearby is simply that it looks good in your brochure. If an industrial park can advertise the fact that there is a major international airport in the district, on top of the attendant infrastructure, this can only make the offer more attractive in the eyes of firms looking for warehouse space. Paweł Piasecki is keen to stress that Mszczonów is already a fine location for industrial parks, but the coming of an airport would be “the icing on the cake.”

Making their mind up

Logistics developers may be forgiven for counting their chickens, however, as although there is much speaking in favour of an eventual airport in this location, the government still seems to be dragging its heels over a final decision. In the wake of Ineco–Sener’s study, what could be causing the government to hesitate? Paweł Piasecki may have identified the reason: the study also recommended that in tandem with the construction of a new airport in Mszczonów, the existing one at Okęcie should be closed down. As there has already been substantial investment in a new terminal at Okęcie (more than USD 200 mln), this could prove to be an unpopular decision and one that is difficult to sell to the general public.

How likely it is that the Ministry of Transport will finally decide to give the go–ahead for a new airport seems to be anybody’s guess. Paweł Piasecki feels that “we can’t afford not build it,” as it is estimated that 12 million passengers will be using Poland’s airports in 2012. And it is not just the demand from passengers that would be putting pressure on Okęcie, as Mr Piasecki points out: “Okęcie is ill–equipped to handle large volumes of cargo, having only 2 sheds with no expansion capability and renting space very expensively at EUR 60 per sqm monthly. So it would be cargo traffic that moves to Mszczonów first.”

The development of CDC Distribution Park may be a sign that industrial developers are already being enticed to the area south of Warsaw by the prospect of the new airport. According to Arkadiusz Płociński, Real Management’s investments director, this possibility was one of the factors behind choosing the location of their park. “It seems to be a great place for cargo handing before distribution to Warsaw. We hope that a new airport nearby could only help our logistic park to be more attractive for clients. Especially because of the road transport situation in Warsaw and due to the trend to keep the TIR traffic out of city centres.”

z Nathan North