Last Tuesday (21OCT25), the Polish Airport Port Lotniczy Katowice (KTW) welcomed Chinese freight carrier, Central Airlines, as its newest customer. That maiden flight kicks off a chain of charter flights between Chengdu and Katowice that will be operated with Triple Seven freighter aircraft between 3 and 5 times a week. Central Airlines is the first Asian cargo carrier to land at Katowice, mainly driven by local e-commerce market demands.
The airport in the southwestern part of Poland has a well-developed ground infrastructure, an expressway system connecting it to the surrounding regions, and is centrally located in the densely populated border triangle between Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. It is a larger agglomeration area with residents whose purchasing power is trending upward.
Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo ante portas
All these factors are favorable conditions for importing e-commerce shipments from China, as local demand for products from Temu, Shein, Alibaba, and similar e-trading platforms is the main reason for the new flight connection.
This is confirmed by Jakub Mańka, member of the airport’s communications department. He points out that the air freight shipments are addressed to Polish customers but also transited to nearby European countries. He also illustrates that the airport has a 12,000 m2 cargo terminal at its disposal for the handling of shipments. Airlines can choose between three external service providers: Welcome Airport Services, Silver Cargo, and LS Airport Services. Katowice Airport itself does not operate its own ground handling unit.
Cargo plays second fiddle
As far as passenger numbers are concerned, it is Poland’s fourth-largest airport after Warsaw, Krakow, and Gdansk. In 2024, 6.4 million travelers used KTW. The largest players are the low-cost carriers Wizz Air and Ryanair. Poland’s state-owned airline, LOT, also serves the airport.
In terms of air freight, KTW is firmly integrated into the European networks of integrators DHL, FedEx, and UPS. Lufthansa Cargo also regularly serves the airport with A321P2F aircraft.
Overall, air freight has played a rather minor role so far. This is illustrated by the annual turnover of 37,175 tons in 2024. However, thanks to Central Airlines’ flights, this volume is likely to increase significantly in the coming weeks, reaching around 45,000 tons by the end of DEC25, predicts speaker Mańka.
Fast throughput
Artur Tomasik, President of the Board of The Upper Silesian Aviation Group (Górnośląskie Towarzystwo Lotnicze S.A. – GTL S.A.), also welcomes this development. On the occasion of Central Airlines’ maiden flight, he stated: “Our partners at Central Airlines made a good decision by choosing Katowice Airport as the place to which they will carry out cargo flights from China […]. We are open to cooperating with Chinese logistics operators, to whom we can offer the advanced infrastructure of Katowice Airport [including our proximity] to the most important motorways in this part of Europe.”
The manager went on to say: “Our advantage is also the short time required for ground handling and customs clearance, thanks to good cooperation with handling operators and the National Revenue Administration.”
24/07/365 ops
Management emphasizes that customs clearance of tens of thousands of shipments from a single all-cargo flight, only takes around six to seven hours, which is an excellent result compared to other European airports. In addition, Katowice Airport is available around-the-clock, without any restrictions, both in terms of operations (aircraft take-offs and landings) and cargo terminal accessibility: factors that are key from the perspective of freight operators and the e-commerce business. Katowice Airport further points out that construction of a second cargo circa 10,000 m² terminal is part of its infrastructure expansion program. Currently, the building is in its design phase. The terminal should be operational in the second half of 2027.
