Chopin Airport: 18% growth in charter traffic

Chopin Airport handled 1,064,000 charter passengers from May to September 2014, an 18% rise on the same period a year ago. The winter season promises to be just as successful.

The most visited countries were Greece (28% share in the total number of charter passengers), followed by Turkey (19%), Spain (15%), Egypt (11%), Tunisia (5%), Bulgaria (5%), Portugal (3%), Italy (3%), Israel (3%) and Morocco (2%). Top destinations included Antalya (118,000 passengers), Rhodes (62,000), Hurghada (55,000), Heraklion (55,000) and Bodrum (44,000).  

Charter flights to destinations in Greece recorded the biggest growth, soaring by 39% year on year.

The five major charter airlines in terms of the number of passengers carried at Chopin Airport in the period from May to September 2014 were: Enter Air (338,000 travellers), Travel Service (253,000), Small Planet (171,000), Travel Service Polska (94,000) and Eurolot (44,000).

The peak of the season was August, when the number of charter passengers totalled 259,000.

The 2014/15 Winter Season promises to be just as good for charter traffic. LOT Polish Airlines has announced almost 300 charter flights operated with the Boeing 787 aircraft. The airline will fly directly to 10 exotic destinations: La Romana, Dominican Republic; Bangkok and Krabi, Thailand; Varadero and Santa Clara, Cuba; Cancun, Mexico; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; Zanzibar, Tanzania and Durban, South Africa.

Direct flights to the Dominican Republic and Mexico are also have been offered by holiday company Tui, which will use its own B767 and B787 jets. On Thursday Nov.6 first flight from Chopin Airport to Punta Cana had been launched, today we have first flight to Cancun.  Another addition, low-cost airline Smartwings has started selling individual tickets for routes to the Canary Islands.