Katowice Airport Guide: Silesia’s Charter and Wizz Air Base
Katowice Airport serves Silesia and southern Poland. Codes, the 2015 runway, terminals, Wizz Air and charter routes, rail links and spotting platforms.
By The Aviation Hub
5 min read
Updated October 20, 2026 
Pyrzowice, a village north of the Silesian conurbation, is home to an airport that has grown quickly since Poland joined the European Union. Katowice Airport handled about 7.3 million passengers in 2025 and ranks fourth in Poland. It serves a region of several million people across Upper Silesia and reaches as far as Krakow and Czestochowa. The field saw the first ever Wizz Air flight and is a leading charter base and a busy cargo centre, all on a single long runway.
Katowice Airport at a Glance
The IATA code is KTW and the ICAO code is EPKT. The airport lies about 19 miles (30 km) north of central Katowice, or about 25 miles (40 km) by road, at an elevation of 303 metres (995 ft). It has one concrete runway and three passenger terminals, lettered A, B and C, plus a cargo terminal.
Traffic in 2025 was roughly 7.3 million passengers, against a terminal capacity of about eight million. Wizz Air runs its first ever base here, with Ryanair, LOT and the charter airline Enter Air also prominent. The airport is owned and run by Górnośląskie Towarzystwo Lotnicze, a company owned largely by the Silesian regional government. Parking, rail times and the spotting platforms are covered on the airport’s official website.
How Katowice’s Airport Came to Be
The site began as a Luftwaffe airbase in the early 1940s, with a hangar and three airstrips. It supported supply flights to the Eastern Front, and the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet rocket fighter was tested here. Soviet forces took it over in 1945 and handed it to the Polish Air Force in 1948. The field was named after Wojciech Korfanty, a Silesian politician who championed the region’s union with Poland after the First World War.
Civil flying came slowly. The first regular passenger service, a LOT flight to Warsaw, ran on 6 October 1966. International scheduled flights began on 27 March 1993 with a Lufthansa service to Frankfurt. The big turning point came in May 2004, when Wizz Air launched its first ever flight from Katowice Airport to London Luton, weeks after Poland joined the European Union.
Terminal B opened in 2007 and was expanded between 2019 and 2021. Terminal C, which handles all arrivals, was completed in 2015, the same year as the new runway.
Runways at Katowice Airport
Katowice Airport has a single concrete runway, 08/26, which is 3,200 metres (10,499 ft) long and 45 metres wide. It opened in 2015 alongside the original 1964 runway, which it replaced. It is the second longest runway in Poland after the main runway at Warsaw Chopin. The length allows Boeing 747s and 777s to operate, although not at maximum take off weight.
Westerly winds prevail across Silesia, so runway 26 handles most operations, with 08 used in easterly conditions. Heavy cargo flights have brought the Antonov An-124 and even the An-225 to the field. A 46 metre control tower overlooks the operation and is the tallest in Poland.
Terminals and Airlines
The three terminals at Katowice Airport divide the work by flow rather than by airline. Terminal A handles departures outside the Schengen area, Terminal B handles Schengen departures and Terminal C takes every arrival. The layout means passengers to the UK leave from A, while those heading to Germany or Spain leave from B.
Wizz Air dominates scheduled flying with its Airbus A321neo fleet and runs two maintenance hangars on site. Linetech operates two more hangars, specialising in Embraer E190 jets. Ryanair adds a second low cost network, LOT connects with Warsaw and Lufthansa, with Air Dolomiti, links to Frankfurt. Enter Air and other charter carriers fill the holiday flights, operating Boeing 737-800s and 737 MAX jets for Polish tour operators.
Routes and Destinations
The United Kingdom has been central to the network since 2004. Wizz Air serves London Luton and several regional British airports, and the flights carry Polish workers, families and tourists. Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Ireland and Italy follow, with Dortmund and Eindhoven among the regular links. LOT flights to Warsaw feed its long haul network to North America and Asia.
Charter flying is a speciality. Katowice Airport is the largest source of charter flights in Poland, with summer departures to Antalya, Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, the Canary Islands and Egypt. Winter brings Hurghada, Tenerife and long haul charters on A330s and 787s to the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam. Cargo is also strong, and the field ranks second in Poland for freight behind Warsaw.
Getting to and from Katowice Airport
A railway station opened in December 2023, ending decades without rail access. Silesian Railways run S9 services, and PKP Intercity and RegioJet trains also call, with links towards Lublin, Warsaw, Ostrava and Prague. A connection to the Central Rail Line, the high speed route between Warsaw and the south, was scheduled to open by June 2026, so check current timetables.
The AP express bus remains the simplest way to central Katowice, running every half hour with a journey time of around 50 minutes. Coaches serve Krakow, Czestochowa and other nearby cities. By car the terminals sit close to the junction of the A1 and S1 expressways. Parking at Katowice Airport offers around 4,000 spaces across three lots. Taxis and Uber are available outside arrivals.
Spotting and Photography
Katowice Airport welcomes spotters. Two free viewing platforms have been built for enthusiasts, one of them at the western end of the runway, giving close views of arrivals on 08 and aircraft climbing out from 26. The surrounding fields and forest roads offer further options, and the open landscape keeps backgrounds clean.
Afternoon light favours the southern side of the runway. Traffic includes Wizz Air A321neos, charter 737s, Lufthansa regional jets and a steady flow of freighters. Use the platforms where possible, stay outside the fence and respect any instructions from airport security.
What Comes Next
Growth is already built into the plan. The owner’s 2024 strategy aims for up to 12 million passengers a year and double the cargo volume by 2028. It includes a new passenger terminal, and work is under way on 33 new aircraft stands. Better rail links should widen the catchment towards Krakow and Warsaw.
Katowice Airport has become one of the success stories of Polish aviation, with a balanced mix of low cost, charter and cargo traffic. Its next challenge is staying ahead of demand. See how it compares with other Central European airports on the Airports of the World map.
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