History
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 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. In 1991 Górnośląskie Towarzystwo Lotnicze (GTL) (English: Upper Silesian Aviation Group) was created . In 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 to extend the runway, the construction of a third passenger terminal, a new and biggest CARGO TERMINAL and a new runway.
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