Katowice Airport


Katowice Airport is an international airport, located in Pyrzowice, north of Katowice, Poland. The airport has the fourth-biggest passenger flow in Poland. It is also the second biggest airport in the country in terms of cargo traffic. It operates a variety of charter, regular and cargo flights.

History

Early years

The current location of Katowice Airport was initially used by German soldiers. In 1940, the Luftwaffe began construction of an airbase in the meadows around Pyrzowice. The Germans built three stone and concrete airstrips, with runway lengths varying from 1,000 to 1,500 meters, all of which around 50 meters wide. The airbase was used for handling of military aircraft flying from the inner part of the German Reich, carrying supplies to troops on the Eastern Front.
In the final phase of World War II, the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet rocket-powered aircraft were tested here. Following General Ernst Udet's death in 1941, the airfield was named Udetfeld.
From 1945 to 1951, Soviet soldiers were stationed at the airbase. In the early 1950s, the Soviets handed the airbase over to the Polish Air Force. It was then used by the 39th Fighter Regiment, created on 17 April 1951.
A new runway was built in 1964. Soon after, the airbase Pyrzowice became host to its first-ever regular passenger traffic, when on 6 October 1966, the first plane of LOT Polish Airlines took off for Warsaw. By the end of 1969, a small passenger terminal was built, together with a taxiway and an apron.
This runway has since been replaced by a new adjacent one, completed in May 2015.

Development since the 1990s

In 1991, Górnośląskie Towarzystwo Lotnicze was created. On 27 March 1993, the German carrier Lufthansa flew to Frankfurt Airport, thus inaugurating the first international service.
Passenger Terminal B officially opened in 2007, followed by Terminal C, in 2015.
Future plans include the construction of a completely new passenger terminal, a further expansion of the recently built cargo terminal, and a new railway connection.
On 3 October 2018, the airport celebrated 4 million passengers travelling through Katowice in a single year.

Facilities

Terminals

The airport features three passenger terminals A, B and C as well as a cargo terminal. Operations at terminal B, much bigger than A, started on 30 July 2007. Terminals are capable of handling about 3.6 million passengers annually. Terminal A handles all non-Schengen departure flights, while Terminal B handles all Schengen departure flights. The operation of the newest Terminal C building started on 27 June 2015. This terminal handles all arrival flights from non-Schengen and Schengen zones. The longest airport observation deck in Poland can be found inside Terminal B. New Terminal D is under planning such as new Cargo Terminal and Cargo City. New Terminal D will be equipped with jetways etc. There is a chance for Kiss&fly zone and VIP Terminal in the future.

Runway and apron

The airport's concrete runway is 3200m by 45m, oriented 9 and 27, and can accommodate aircraft as large as Boeing 747 or Boeing 777, albeit not at MTOW. Heavy transports such as Antonov An-124 or An-225 have been noted to land there on occasions. The airport uses new generation Instrument Landing System, a Thales 420 system. The runway at Katowice Airport is the second longest runway in Poland, behind Warsaw Chopin's runway 15/33. 33 new aircraft stands are under construction as of now. They will be located between taxiways E and H, to the west from main apron, between main and cargo apron and to the east from cargo apron.
The airport has two plane spotter stands, one at the western end of the airport's runway. The platforms are free to access.

Air traffic control tower

The new ATC tower has been already built. It is the tallest ATC in Poland and in Eastern Europe, at 46 meters height.

Hotel

A "Moxy by Marriott" hotel has been built recently, and is now ready to accept guests. It is located right next to the main parking entrance, very close to the terminals. A direct bridge connection to the terminals is also planned.

Car parks

There are three main car parks at Katowice International Airport. P1, P2 and P3. P1 is the nearest parking connected direct with terminals. P2 is located to the east to P1. P3 is next to P2 and it is a guarded car park. There is a lot of private car parks next to the airport. The airport offers 3922 own parking spaces. There is also Premium Parking at Katowice International Airport. P1 will be expanded to 1842 parking spaces by January 2019. It will be expanded to the west.

Maintenance

At the airport are two main maintenance buildings. The first serves mainly Wizzair's aircraft, and the modern one belongs to Linetech and serving all other airlines.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Katowice:

Cargo

Statistics

Passenger figures

The most frequent scheduled routes


RankAirportScheduled flights per weekAirlines
1 Dortmund29Ryanair, Wizz Air
2 Warsaw-Chopin28LOT Polish Airlines
3 Frankfurt21Lufthansa
4 London-Luton17Wizz Air
5 Oslo-Torp13Ryanair, Wizz Air
6 London-Stansted9Ryanair
7 Munich7Lufthansa
8 Eindhoven7Wizz Air
9 Burgas7Ryanair, Wizz Air
10 Cologne/Bonn6Ryanair, Wizz Air
11 Milan-Bergamo6Ryanair, Wizz Air
12 Doncaster/Sheffield5Wizz Air

The busiest routes


RankAirportPassengers handledTop carriers
1 London-Luton 374,0Wizz Air
2 Dortmund 259,0Wizz Air
3 Antalya 216,0Corendon, Enter Air, Freebird, LOT Polish Airlines, Onur Air, Ryanair Sun, Small Planet Airlines Poland, SmartWings, Smartwings Poland, SunExpress, Tailwind
4 Eindhoven 142,0Wizz Air
5 Warsaw Chopin 142,0LOT Polish Airlines
6 Frankfurt 134,0Lufthansa
7 Burgas 132,0BH Air, Bulgaria Air, Bulgarian Air Charter, Enter Air, Ryanair Sun, Small Planet Airlines Poland, SmartWings, Smartwings Poland, Wizz Air
8 Hurghada 117,0Air Cairo, Enter Air, FlyEgypt, Small Planet Airlines Poland, Smartwings Poland
9 Heraklion 99,0Aegean Airlines, Ellinair, Enter Air, Ryanair Sun, Small Planet Airlines Poland, SmartWings, Smartwings Poland
10 Rhodes 79,0Aegean Airlines, Enter Air, Ryanair Sun, Small Planet Airlines Poland, SmartWings, Smartwings Poland

Ground transportation

By car

The airport is accessible to/from Katowice and other cities of the region like Częstochowa, Kraków, Opole, Gliwice, Kielce, Oświęcim, Tychy via Expressway S1, national road 86, A4 motorway, national road 94, national road 78 and A1 motorway. The airport is also served by taxis, Uber and iTaxi. The airport offers 3,922 parking spaces. There is also premium parking at Katowice International Airport. Car rentals are available.

By bus

Bus stops are next to Terminal C and Terminal B. They are about 10 metres from the terminal entrance.

By rail

There is currently no passenger rail link to the airport but the building of a railway between Katowice and the airport is being planned. There will be new railways from Siewierz and Tarnowskie Góry to Katowice International Airport.

Accidents and incidents