August 2021 was the best month for Katowice Airport in the area of passenger traffic since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. During the eighth month of 2021, 488,948 passengers – 228,640 more (+87.8%) in comparison with the same time period in 2020 – travelled from Katowice Airport. 202,347 travellers – 48,300 more (+31.3%) than last year – travelled on regular flights handled by Wizz Air, Ryanair, LOT Polish Airlines and Lufthansa.
In August 2021, the following regular routes were the most popular: Dortmund (19.3k passengers), London-Luton (13.0k), Burgas (11.4k), Athens (7.8k) and London-Stansted (7.6k).
When it comes to charter flights, 285,958 passengers – 180,211 more (+170.4%) than last year – were handled. The most popular charter destinations in August were: Antalya (57.4k passengers), Rhodes (19.7k), Zakynthos (17.3k), Heraklion (16.6k) and Hurghada (16.5k).
On 1 August 2021 (Sunday), the highest number of passengers handled in a single day was noted at Katowice Airport; on that day, 19,715 travellers were served. In comparison, the best daily result in the history of the airport – 25,476 passengers – was achieved on 28 June 2018. In August 2021, 4,268 aircraft take-offs and landings – 1 338 more (+45.7%) than last year – took place.
During the first eight months of 2021, 1,333,846 passengers – 248,402 more (+22.9%) in comparison with the same time period in 2020 – were handled at Katowice Airport. From January to the end of August, 16,480 aircraft take-offs and landings were noted at the airport, i.e. 1,674 more (+11.3%) in comparison with the result from 2020.
“As usually, we will summarise the charter season when September ends, but I can say right now that its peak – July and August – was successful. During those two months, we handled 912 thousand passengers, i.e. 65% of the result achieved during two record-breaking months in summer 2018, when 1.38 million travellers visited Katowice Airport. In August, 58% of all passengers travelled on charter flights; on average, we noted 177 persons per flight in this segment. It’s the best result this year. We’re expecting that approximately 380-390 thousand passengers will be handled in September; while bearing in mind the ongoing crisis in which aviation is currently functioning, it is a good result,” said Artur Tomasik, President of the Management Board of Górno?l?skie 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. The prognosis 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.
