To Cuba directly from Katowice Airport - Rainbow Tours launches new charter route

On 27 November 2021 (Saturday) a new long-haul charter route was launched at Katowice Wojciech Korfanty Airport. Direct flights to Varadero, Cuba, will be handled once a week for Rainbow Tours. The route is handled by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner LOT Polish Airlines (252 seats).
 
Varadero is the fourth direct long-haul charter route which launched at Katowice Airport in 2021. At the turn of February and March 2021, LOT Polish Airlines began handling weekly flights to Cancun, Mexico, and Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic, for Rainbow Tours. TUI offers flights from Katowice Airport to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic; they are also handled by LOT Polish Airlines’ Dreamliner. The route is handled every ten or eleven days.
 
In “Winter 2021/2022” there are currently 19 charter routes to 12 countries available at Katowice Airport. Four routes are available to the Canary Islands (Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Tenerife) and to Egypt (Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Sharm El Sheikh, Taba); two are available to the Dominican Republic (Puerto Plata, Punta Cana); one is available to Morocco (Agadir), Oman (Salalah), Portugal (Madeira), Kenya (Mombasa), Cuba (Varadero), Mexico (Cancun), Tanzania (Zanzibar), Turkey (Antalya) and the United Arab Emirates (Dubai).
 
“Due to a consequently realized development strategy, Katowice Airport is the leader in the area of charter flights. For many years, GTL SA has been creating a friendly environment for, among others, the development of charters at Katowice Airport. We co-operate with travel agencies and airlines. We support the promotion of new routes, we assist in matters related to operations, and, what is of prime importance, we continuously expand the infrastructure; as a result, Katowice Airport is an airport without limits. We expect a ​further development of direct long-haul charter flights from our airport in 2022,” said Artur Tomasik, President of the Management Board of the Upper Silesian Aviation Group (GTL SA), the company managing Katowice Airport.
 
During the biggest crisis in the history of aviation, which was caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the significance of charter flights has increased at Katowice Airport. During the pre-pandemic 2019, among 4.84 million passengers handled at Katowice Airport, approximately 2 million (41%) travelled on charter flights. After ten months of 2021, approximately 2 million passengers were noted in total traffic; charters constituted 60% of that result (approximately 1.2 million travellers).
 
Katowice Airport is the biggest regional cargo airport in Poland. In 2019, record breaking 4.84 million passengers flew via its network; 2 million of them travelled on charter flights. The forecast for 2020 assumed that 5.5 million travellers would be handled. Ultimately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, 1.44 million passengers travelled to/from Katowice Airport last year. The airport is the country leader in the area of charter traffic and the regional leader in the area of cargo traffic.