Katowice Airport Handles over 420 Thousand passengers

156,414 people – 42,990 more (+37.9%) than in July 2020 – travelled on regular flights (Wizz Air, Ryanair, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa). In July 2021, the following regular destinations were the most popular at Katowice Airport: Dortmund (16.1 thousand passengers), Burgas (11.0 thousand), Athens (6.6 thousand), Podgorica (5.5 thousand) and Catania (5.3 thousand). In the charter flights segment, 265,551 travellers – 214,289 more (+418.0%) in comparison with the seventh month of 2020 – were handled. The most popular charter destinations were as follows: Antalya (45.3 thousand passengers), Rhodes (17.7 thousand), Zakynthos (17.0 thousand), Hurghada (15.2 thousand) and Heraklion (14.5 thousand). In July 2021, 3,813 take-offs and landings – 1,287 more (+50.9%) than last year – took place.

During the first seven months of 2021, 844,898 passengers were handled, i.e. 19,762 more (+2.4%) in comparison with the same time period in 2020. 267,853 travellers – 379,531 fewer (-58.6%) than last year – flew on regular flights. On flights handled for travel agencies, 570,697 passengers were noted, i.e. 408,715 more (+252.3%) than in the first seven months of 2020.  From January to July, 12,212 take-offs and landings took place, 336 more (+2.8%) than last year.

“The number of passengers handled in July 2021 is 64% of the record-breaking pre-pandemic result achieved in July 2019. In July 2021, just like in previous months, the traffic at Katowice Airport was dominated by charter flights under which 62% of the total number of passengers were handled. Aircraft which realize flights for travel agencies have more passengers on board. It is worth emphasizing, however, that the average number of passengers travelling on regular flights has considerably improved. When it comes to short-term forecasts, it seems that August at Katowice Airport will be better than July. We estimate that 480-490 thousand passengers will be handled during the eighth month of 2021.  Traffic during the upcoming autumn/winter season will depend on the pandemic situation, i.e. whether it improves or additional restrictions affecting travelling by air are introduced,” said Artur Tomasik, President of the Management Board of Górnośląskie Towarzystwo Lotnicze SA, the company managing Katowice Airport.

Katowice Airport is among the biggest regional airports in Poland. In 2019, record breaking 4.84 million passengers used its flights network; 2 million of them travelled on charter flights. Forecast for 2020 assumed that 5.5 million travellers would be handled. Ultimately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, 1.44 million passengers travelled to/from Katowice Airport last year. The airport is the country leader in the area of charter traffic and the regional leader in the area of cargo traffic.