During the seventh month of 2021, 2,607 tonnes of freight, i.e. 762 tonnes more (+41.3%) in comparison with last year’s result, were transported to and from Katowice Airport. From January to the end of July 2021, 16,423 tonnes of cargo were handled, i.e. 5,507 tonnes more (+50.4%) in comparison with the first seven months of 2020.
During summer 2021, the regular cargo flights network at Katowice Airports increased by three destinations handled for Amazon. On 6 July 2021, the Milan-Malpensa – Cagliari – Katowice Airport – Paris de Gaulle – Milan-Malpensa route was launched. Two weeks later, the Katowice Airport – Hannover – Milan-Malpensa – Hannover – Katowice Airport route was handled for the first time; on 3 August, the first Milan-Malpensa – Catania – Katowice Airport – Madrid – Milan-Malpensa flight took place. All aforementioned routes are handled with a cargo Boeing 737-400.
Top cargo operators in Europe have their regional bases at Katowice Airport. Currently, the regular cargo flights network comprises 10 routes. In addition to the new aforementioned Amazon flights, the following regular route is also handled for the company: Katowice Airport – Cologne-Bonn – East Midlands – Cologne-Bonn – Katowice Airport. DHL Express flies from Katowice Airport to Leipzig, UPS to Cologne-Bonn, FedEx to Paris; TNT handles the Liege – Katowice Airport – Gdansk – Riga – Liege route. Furthermore, since January 2021, Lufthansa Cargo is operating a Poland-wide RFS* freight facility at Katowice Airport, from where it offers regular cargo connections to Frankfurt and Vienna.
“For years, thanks to modern infrastructure which is capable of handling a lot of cargo, Katowice Airport has been achieving consistently better results in this segment of air traffic; the airport is strengthening its position among Polish regional airports. According to our prognoses, 2021 will be a record year for us; we will conclude it with a 50% increase in the amount of handled cargo in comparison with last year. In 2021, approx. 30 thousand tonnes of freight will be handled. At the same time, we are concerned with the development of this segment. We are planning to expand the cargo area at Katowice Airport. In the foreseeable future, we plan to carry out investments which will allow us to at the very least double the surface of terminal infrastructure which handles air cargo,” 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.
*RFS (Road Feeder Service): transport services between airports, handled by road for air carriers. An RFS vehicle is considered air transport; each operation is assigned a flight number.
