Passenger traffic at Katowice airport in February 2022 is 53% below the 2020 figure

The Upper Silesian Aviation Group (GTL SA) – the company managing Katowice Wojciech Korfanty International Airport in Pyrzowice – has summarised passenger traffic results for February 2022. During the second month of 2022, 141 531 passengers, i.e. 127 495 more (+908.3%) in comparison with the same time period in 2021, were handled at Katowice Airport. It is 53% of the record result achieved in February 2020, when nearly 265 thousand passengers travelled via the Katowice Airport network.

In February 2022, 96 758 passengers, 93 568 more (+2933.2%) than last year, were handled on regular flights offered by Wizz Air, Ryanair, LOT Polish Airlines and Lufthansa. During the second month of 2022, passengers most often travelled to the following regular destinations: Dortmund (13.5 thousand passengers), London-Stansted (9.4 thousand), London-Luton (7.2 thousand), Cologne-Bonn (6.2 thousand) and Eindhoven (5.0 thousand).

In February, 44 370 passengers, 33 761 (+318.2%) more than in 2021, were handled for travel agencies offering charter flights at Katowice Airport. Last month, the following charter routes were the most popular: Hurghada (9.4 thousand passengers), Marsa Alam (8.8 thousand), Antalya (3.7 thousand), Puerto Plata (2.2 thousand) and Punta Cana (2.2 thousand). During the second month of 2022, 1 884 aircraft took off and landed at Katowice Airport, i.e. 1 187 more (+170.3%) than last year.

During the first two months of 2022, 282 307 passengers were handled at Katowice Airport, 243 193 more (+621.7%) than last year. From January to the end of February, there were 3 879 aircraft take-offs and landings, i.e. 2 268 more (+140.8%) than during the first two months of 2021.

“The number of passengers handled at Katowice Airport during the first two months of 2022 is 10% higher than our forecast for that time period. Thankfully, air traffic did not collapse due to the fifth wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The upcoming weeks will show whether and how Russia’s attack on Ukraine affects the aviation industry. Currently, we are not changing our forecast and still see to handle 3.8-4 million passengers in 2022,” said Artur Tomasik, President of the Board of GTL SA, the company managing Katowice Airport.

Katowice Airport is among the biggest regional airports in Poland. In 2019, 4.84 million passengers travelled via its network; 2 million passengers were handled on charter flights. The coronavirus pandemic which caused the biggest crisis in the history of aviation slowed the forecast growth of passenger traffic. In 2020, 1.44 million passengers were handled at Katowice 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.

Pyrzowice, 11 March 2022