Katowice Wojciech Korfanty Airport

Katowice Airport lies at Pyrzowice, about 30 kilometers north of Katowice, in Poland's crowded Upper Silesian industrial region. The small airfield began in 1940. German occupation forces built a military airstrip there during World War Two. After the war, it passed to the Polish air force. Civil flights did not begin until the 1960s, when LOT Polish Airlines started serving the region.

For decades it stayed a small provincial airport, overshadowed by Krakow and Warsaw. Everything changed after 2000. Upper Silesia has a huge population, and many locals worked abroad in Germany, Britain, and Ireland. Low cost carriers, meaning airlines that keep fares cheap by cutting extra services, arrived and transformed the airport. Wizz Air flew its first commercial flight from here to London Luton in May 2004, and Ryanair followed.

Charter flights, meaning holiday flights sold as part of a package, took off too. Routes to Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and the Canary Islands grew into one of the largest holiday operations in the country. The airport added terminals and a separate charter building. In 2015 it finished a new 3,200 meter runway, replacing the old wartime strip. Long haul charters and cargo planes could fly without weight limits.

Katowice runs a single runway, 09/27, rebuilt in 2015 into a full 3,200 meters on a shifted path so the old wartime strip could finally retire. Passengers use terminals A, B, and C, with charter flights kept largely separate from scheduled low cost routes, meaning fares kept low by cutting extra services.

Wizz Air keeps a large fleet based here, and Ryanair keeps a smaller one. Most travelers are Poles working abroad or holidaymakers headed to Egypt and Turkey. Katowice also ranks among Poland's busiest cargo airports, serving Silesia's car and logistics industries.