Business travellers passing through Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW) on the morning of 2 August 2026 faced queues of up to 40 minutes after parts of both the Schengen (AB) and non-Schengen (CDE) security zones were taken off-line for the installation of next-generation CT scanners. According to an eyewitness thread posted at 08:15 local time, only half of the security lanes were open and some passengers were re-routed through temporary corridors. Polish Rail announcements on the SKM suburban line serving the airport warned of “terminal security modernisation,” urging travellers to arrive early. The upgrade is part of a year-long project detailed in Warsaw Chopin’s Summer-2026 coordination parameters, which confirm 24-hour work on “replacement of security control scanners in the AB and CDE zones” between December 2025 and August 2026. When fully deployed, the computed-tomography scanners will allow passengers to keep laptops and liquids inside their bags, bringing the airport in line with new EU security standards. Airport authorities told local media that today’s slowdown was “a planned test shut-down” needed to connect the final lanes to the central detection network before the busy late-summer travel period. Airlines were instructed to hold short-haul departures for up to 20 minutes to protect minimum-connection times; LOT Polish Airlines reported no missed connections. For global mobility managers, the incident is a reminder to factor in potential last-minute infrastructure works during the EU-wide roll-out of advanced screening technology. Companies routing assignees or high-value cargo through Warsaw should advise travellers to build in at least an extra 30 minutes for security checks over the next two weeks and monitor airport NOTAMs for night-time terminal closures scheduled between 19 September and 24 October 2026.
