Katowice International Airport

Early years

The place where the Katowice International Airport is now located, was first used by German soldiers. In 1940 the Luftwaffe began construction of an airbase in the meadows around Pyrzowice. The Germans built three stone and concrete strips with a length of runway from 1000 to 1500 meters and 50 meters wide. The airbase was used for the handling of military aircraft, flying from the inner part of the German Reich to the aeroplanes taking supplies to troops on the Eastern Front. In the final phase of World War II, the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet powered aircraft missile systems have been tested here. After the death of Luftwaffe flying ace gen. Ernst Udet in 1941, the airfield was named Udetfeld.

From 1945 to 1951, Soviet Army's soldiers were stationed at the airbase. In the early 1950s, the Soviets handed the airbase to the Polish Air Force. It was then used by the 39 Fighter Regiment, created on 17 April 1951.

The airbase Pyrzowice was for the first time made available for passenger traffic on 6 October 1966, when the first plane of LOT Polish Airlines, taking off for Warsaw. By the end of 1969 year a small passenger terminal was built (550 m²) with a taxiway and apron front of the airport.

On 28 May 2015 a new runway with a length of 3 200 m was opened.

Development since the 1990s

In 1991 Górnośląskie Towarzystwo Lotnicze (GTL) (English: Upper Silesian Aviation Group) was created. On 27 March 1993 the German carrier Lufthansa flew to Frankfurt, thus inaugurating the first international service. Passenger Terminal B officially opened on 30 July 2007.

Katowice International Airport is constantly developing. Future plans include to extend the runway, the construction of a third passenger terminal, a new cargo terminal and a new runway.

Terminals

The airport features three passenger terminals A, B (departures) and C (arrivals) as well as a cargo terminal. Operations at terminal B, much bigger than A, started on 30 July 2007. Terminals are capable of handling about 3.6 million passengers annually. Terminal A handles all non-Schengen flights, while Terminal B handles all Schengen flights. The longest airport observation deck in Poland can be found inside Terminal B. The operation of the newest Terminal C building (arrivals) started on June 27, 2015.

Runway and apron

The airports concrete runway is 3,200 by 60 m (10,499 by 197 ft) and can accommodate aircraft as large as Boeing 747 or Boeing 777, albeit not at Maximum Takeoff Weight. Heavy transports such as Antonov An-124 or An-225 have been noticed to land there. The airport uses new generation Instrument Landing System - Thales 420.

By car

In 2006 express road S1 was opened between the Podwarpie junction and the airport. Thanks to this road the airport is easily accessible from Katowice and other cities of the region by national road 86 and from Kraków by A4 motorway or national road 94. The airport is also accessible by national road 78 and A1 motorway

By bus

There is an hourly bus service between Katowice city centre and the airport. The bus leaves every full hour from Katowice Main Railway Station and stops near Altus Building, Novotel Katowice and in Sosnowiec (Milowice Shopping Center). It takes approximately 50 minutes to get from center of Katowice to the airport. Bus connections from other largest cities of the region, such as Kraków (about 75 minutes travel), Częstochowa and minibus - inter alia from/to Opole, Wrocław are also available. Local buses connect to the city of Bytom where one can change for bus to Katowice.

By rail

There is currently no passenger rail link to airport but building of a railway between Katowice and the airport is being planned.

Accidents and incidents