Katowice Airport: Cargo Leader among Polish regional Airports

From January to the end of December 2021, record-breaking 32 104 tonnes of freight, i.e. 11 729 tonnes more (+57.6%) than in 2020, were handled on routes to/from Katowice Airport. It is the best result in the airport’s history.

Growth of cargo traffic stems from considerably more freighter take-offs and landings. In 2021, cargo aircraft performed 4 642 operations, i.e. 1 515 more (+48.5%) than in 2020; it's the best result in the history of Katowice Airport.

Last year was characterized by dynamic development of the regular cargo network at Katowice Wojciech Korfanty Airport. At the beginning of 2021, Lufthansa Cargo launched a Polish nationwide RFS* point in Pyrzowice. The company started handling RFS routes between Katowice Airport and Frankfurt and Vienna. Moveover, Amazon launched four regular charter routes from Katowice Airport in mid-2021.

"We aim to further expand cargo traffic at our airport. In the first quarter of 2022, we will announce a tender for the selection of a designer for the second cargo terminal. We want to launch the construction of the building in the first half of 2023. We want to provide proper infrastructure throughput to assure proper development of cargo traffic, because our forecast indicate further dynamic growth in the future. We expect 2022 to be record-breaking; over 40 thousand tonnes of freight should be handled on routes to and from Katowice Airport," said Artur Tomasik, President of the Board of GTL SA.

Top cargo operators in Europe have their regional bases at Katowice Wojciech Korfanty Airport. Currently, the regular cargo network at the airport consists of ten routes:

• Milan-Malpensa – Catania – Katowice Airport – Madrid – Milan-Malpensa (Amazon)
• Milan-Malpensa – Cagliari – Katowice Airport – Paris de Gaulle – Milan-Malpensa (Amazon)
• Katowice Airport – Hannover – Milan-Malpensa – Hannover – Katowice Airport (Amazon)
• Katowice Airport – Cologne-Bonn – East Midlands – Cologne-Bonn – Katowice Airport (Amazon)
• Frankfurt – Katowice Airport – Frankfurt (Lufthansa Cargo/RFS*)
• Vienna – Katowice Airport – Vienna (Lufthansa Cargo/RFS)
• Cologne-Bonn – Katowice Airport – Cologne-Bonn (UPS)
• Liege – Katowice Airport – Gdańsk – Riga – Liege (FedEx)
• Leipzig – Katowice Airport – Leipzig (DHL Express)
• Paris – Katowice Airport – Warsaw – Katowice Airport – Paris (FedEx).

Katowice Airport is among the biggest regional airports in Poland. In 2019, record-breaking 4.84 million passengers travelled via its network; 2 million passengers flew on charter flights. The coronavirus pandemic resulted in the biggest crisis in the history of the aviation industry; it slowed down the forecast growth of passenger traffic. In 2020, 1.44 million passengers travelled to/from the airport, and 2.32 million in 2021.  Katowice Wojciech Korfanty Airport is the country leader in the area of charter traffic, and the regional leader in the area of cargo traffic.

*RFS (Road Feeder Service) refers to transport of goods by trucks between two airports on behalf of airlines. Technically, a RFS truck is still considered air transportation; each transport is assigned a flight number.