Lack of only 4 268 passengers resulted that the Katowice International Airport could not celebrate 2,7 million travelers handled in 2014. Nevertheless, it was the best year in the airport’s history.
In 2014, the overall number of passengers at KTW amounted to 2 695 732, what is 151 534 passengers more (+6%) than in 2013. Also, 2014 was a record-breaking year in terms of charter traffic at the airport where 985 827 people were handled – 227 184 more than in the year before (+30%). The most spectacular was the growth of cargo traffic. According to the initial estimation, approximately 16,5 tons of air freight were handled – 5,5 thousand tons more than in 2013 (+50%).
In the last month of 2014, a slight decrease in number of handled passengers were noted – there were 144 746 travelers, 4 519 less than in December 2013 (-4%).
The KTW authorities predict that 2015 will be another breaking-record year and expect to handle about 3 million passengers. It will be possible thanks to the enlarged engagement of Wizz Air, which based its fifth 180-seated Airbus A320 at the airport in March 2014. Thereby, the carrier is going to increase the frequency of flights to Scandinavia and the British Isles, and will launch new services to Belfast, Larnaca, Bristol and Bolonia. Also, a continued growth of charter traffic is expected.
2014 was also the peak period for investment processes being carried out since 2008. A construction of a new 3 200-meter runway was completed on time and the new infrastructure will be operational in May 2015. In addition, the airport’s arrivals terminal is under construction, as are the aircraft deicing station and cargo apron – both investment undertakings will be completed by June 2015. A construction work on a new cargo terminal together with accompanying infrastructure was also commenced. Its completion is scheduled for May 2016.