Early years

The current location of Katowice Airport was initially used by the German air force. In 1940, the Luftwaffe began construction of an airbase in the meadows around Pyrzowice. Three stone and concrete airstrips were built, with the runway lengths varying between 1,000 to 1,500 meters, and 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 (a Luftwaffe flying ace) death in 1941, the airfield was named Udetfeld.

After the Red Army's advance in early 1945, the Soviet air forces gained the control of the airfield. 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 first-ever regular passenger traffic started, with a LOT Polish Airlines place taking off for Warsaw on October 6m 1966. By the end of 1969, a small passenger terminal was built (550 m²), together with a taxiway and an apron.

This runway has since been replaced by a new adjacent one (3,200m), completed in May 2015.

Development since the 1990s

In 1991, Górnośląskie Towarzystwo Lotnicze (The Upper Silesian Aviation Group) was established and in 1994, it became the operator of Pyrzowice Airport. International service from Pyrzowice commenced on March 27, 1993, when Lufthansa started its daily service to Frankfurt Airport.

Poland's admission to the European Union has supercharged airport's growth. The Hungarian low-cost airline WizzAir chose Katowice for its first base, with their inaugural flight taking off for London Luton.^[12] Other low-cost airlines, as well as charter airlines, followed. In 2007, a second terminal (Terminal B) for Schengen flights opened, and in 2015 an arrivals-only Terminal C was completed. Also in 2015, a new runway, which is the second-longest runway in Poland at 3,200 meters, was completed.

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.^[13]

Terminals

There are three passenger terminals: A (non-Schengen departures), B (Schengen departures), and C (all arrivals), as well as a cargo terminal. Terminal B has been completed in 2007 and underwent a major expansion in 2019-21. Altogether, terminals at Katowice Airport are capable of handling about 8.0 million passengers annually.^[14]

In 2024, the airport's owner announced plans for another airport expansion which would allow Katowice Airport to handle up to 12 million passengers per year and double cargo volumes by 2028.^[15]

Runway and apron

The airport's concrete runway is 3200m by 45m, oriented 8 and 26, and can accommodate aircraft as large as Boeing 747 or Boeing 777, albeit not at MTOW.^[16] Heavy transports such as Antonov An-124^[17] or An-225^[18][19] have been noted to land there on occasions. The airport uses new generation Instrument Landing System, a Thales 420 system.^[20] 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 (Echo) and H (Hotel), 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.^[21]

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.^[22]

Aircraft maintenance facilities

Wizz Air, which has a base at the airport, is the primary operator of two maintenance buildings at Katowice Airport and services their Airbus A321neo fleet there.^[23] Linetech, an aircraft maintenance contractor, operates two other buildings and services Embraer E190 jets.

Other facilities

The airport owns three parking lots with 4,348 parking spaces in total. Parking lots P1 and P2 (948 spaces) are located right next to the terminal and focused on shorter-term parking while parking lot P3 is located further away and dedicated to long-term parking. A free shuttle runs from parking lot P3 to the terminals. There are also multiple other, privately-owned parking lots near the airport.

The airport is served by a "Moxy by Marriott" hotel, located right next to the main parking entrance (P1).

In 2023, a train station with limited train service has been opened.

Passenger

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

Cargo

Passenger figures

More information Year, Passengers ...

Year[80][81]	Passengers	Air operations	Cargo (tonnes)
1996	68,203	3,586	596
1997	101,054	4,290	1,241
1998	150,724	6,256	1,365
1999	170,230	6,510	1,522
2000	168,126	8,710	7,745
2001	180,015	9,441	2,196
2002	202,267	8,389	2,886
2003	257,991	9,375	3,548
2004	622,612	13,803	5,038
2005	1,092,358	16,222	5,636
2006	1,458,411	21,014	6,113
2007	1,995,914	24,489	7,795
2008	2,426,942	27,030	12,703
2009	2,364,613	26,206	6,543
2010	2,403,253	26,770	11,195
2011	2,544,124	29,259	12,138
2012	2,550,848	30,584	10,546
2013	2,554,198	28,990	10,877
2014	2,695,732	28,771	16,269
2015	3,069,279	31,727	16,119
2016	3,221,261	31,013	17,674
2017	3,892,941	34,725	17,779
2018	4,838,149	41,007	18,547
2019	4,843,889	41,606	20,121
2020	1,445,781	21,922	20,369
2021	2,328,973	48,856	31,104
2022	4,419,090	49,123	40,642
2023	5,609,022	45,167	35,926

Close

Busiest routes

More information Rank, Airport ...

Busiest routes in 2022^[82]

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled
1	Antalya	436,213
2	Dortmund	354,650
3	London Luton	200,941
4	Hurghada	160,954
5	London Stansted	149,273
6	Marsa Alam	136,845
7	Eindhoven	105,664
8	Warsaw-Chopin	100,188
9	Burgas	95,126
10	Cologne/Bonn	91,786

Close

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.^[83] There is also premium parking at Katowice International Airport. Car rentals are available.^[84]

By bus

• MetropoliaZTM^[85] is the public transport operator in this area. It operates lines to nearby cities. AP goes directly to Katowice, it stops only at a few stops in Katowice (45min to the main railway station). M11 is a slower bus to Katowice (70min) via Sączów, Wojkowice, Siemianowice Śląskie. M14 to Gliwice via Tarnowskie Góry. M19 to Sosnowiec via Będzin. M116/M16 are direct buses to Gliwice via Piekary Śląskie, Bytom and Zabrze (note: its number changes in Piekary Śląskie). A one-way ticket is 6,60PLN (for 90min with unlimited changes or for the whole route of the bus). A 40-minute ticket costs 5,60PLN. You can also buy tickets using mobile apps. There is a group ticket for 5 people for 13PLN (for 90min with changes or for the whole route of the bus). A one-day ticket day is 12PLN (valid until midnight).

There is also a 24 hour ticket for 24PLN, this ticket also allows you to travel in regional (commuter) trains in the area.

• Flixbus connects Katowice International Airport with Katowice, Kraków, Częstochowa, Chorzów or Bytom.^[86][87]
• Matuszek bus corporation connects Katowice Airport with Katowice city centre and Kraków city centre.^[88]
• P-Air PyrzowiceEkspres.pl (official WizzAir's carrier) connects the airport with Kraków and Częstochowa.^[88]
• Leo Express connects the airport with Ostrava, Rybnik, Gliwice and Bohumín direct from the airport.^[88]
• Bus connections from other largest cities of the region, such as Kraków,^[89] Częstochowa^[90] and minibus - inter alia from/to Opole,^[91][92] Wrocław^[91][92] are also available. Local buses connect to the city of Bytom where one can change for bus to Katowice.

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, although construction of a new railway connection has begun recently, in 2021. There will be new railway routes from Siewierz and Tarnowskie Góry to Katowice International Airport. Both of the two connections currently being built will allow for either direct, or indirect passenger traffic between Katowice main railway station and the adjacent cities of the GZM (Silesian urban area) and serve the airport's passengers on a daily basis.^[93]