Viewpoints

Viewing Platforms at Pyrzowice Airport

You don't need an airline ticket to watch jets take off up close. Katowice Airport in Pyrzowice — Poland's fourth airport by passenger numbers and aircraft movements — has placed two steel spotting platforms in the public area of the airport, where air traffic can be watched and photographed free of charge, around the clock.

Platform 09 and platform 27

The first stands in Ożarowice on Leśna Street, on the western side of the airport. The second lies in the south-east, by the de-icing apron and taxiways near the threshold of runway 27. Both are 9 m long, 2.5 m wide and high, and each holds 25 people. From platform 09 you can see the apron in front of the terminals, with departing and arriving aircraft passing a few dozen metres overhead. It is sunlit for most of the day, which makes photography harder — platform 27 is the optimal planespotting location.

The airport in numbers

The airport named after Wojciech Korfanty lies about 33 km north of central Katowice, across the municipalities of Ożarowice and Mierzęcice. It has one of the longest runways in Poland — 3,200 m long and 45 m wide, opened in May 2015 — and three terminals with a combined capacity of about 8 million passengers a year.

In practice

Drive to the platforms — platform 09 lies on Leśna Street in Ożarowice; entry is free, access around the clock. Remember the sun shines onto platform 09 for most of the day — photographers are pointed to platform 27. Nearby, visit the park in Świerklaniec (about 12 km) and the Silver Mine in Tarnowskie Góry (about 19 km).