It's official: in 2023, Košice Airport recorded a historic high in the number of passengers served. A total of 625,053 passengers passed through its gates. This is a 15% increase over 2022 and 12% more than in the pre-pandemic year of 2019. In terms of recovery pace post the COVID-19 pandemic, Košice Airport ranks among the top performers in Europe. On average, European airports still have not reached pre-pandemic levels of operation.

Over 424,000 passengers used regular flights to one of seven destinations (Dublin, Liverpool, London Luton, London Stansted, Prague, Warsaw, Vienna). The busiest destinations on regular flights were Vienna, London Luton, and London Stansted.

Nearly 198,000 passengers flew from or to Košice on charter flights. During the historically record-breaking holiday season, the most popular destinations were Antalya, Larnaca, and Hurghada. Additionally, during the spring break and before the Christmas holidays, travel agencies offered exotic destinations from Košice, such as Zanzibar or Oman.

Thomas Dworschak, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Košice Airport:

"We are immensely pleased that for over 625,000 passengers we were the airport of first choice last year. This historic record comes at a time when European airports on average still have not been able to reach the pre-pandemic level of transport, while in Košice we recorded an increase of 12%." This success is a combination of several factors. Thomas Dworschak continues: "We thank our partner airlines and travel agencies for their attractive offerings in 2023 that brought a record number of passengers to us. I am also extremely proud of the airport staff team for managing not only a record-breaking successful year but also a challenging one excellently."

Tomáš Jančuš, Board Member and Deputy CEO for Finance:

"We are also delighted with our close cooperation with our partners from the tourist organizations Visit Košice and Košice Region Tourism. It is our common goal to increase the attractiveness of Eastern Slovakia as an appealing tourist destination. This goes hand in hand with the continually improving air accessibility, which will reach a new level for our region with the arrival of SWISS in March."

Starting on the Wednesday before Easter, SWISS International Airlines will begin flights to Košice from Zürich. A few days later, on Easter Sunday, Ryanair will launch a route to the Croatian Zadar and will also resume its connection to Dublin, Ireland.

In addition to opening new air routes, Košice Airport will have another major reason to celebrate in 2024. In May, it will be 100 years since the first commercial flight to Košice. This flight, on May 5, 1924, was operated by the then Czechoslovak State Airlines on the Prague-Bratislava-Košice route.

Tomáš Jančuš continues: "On this occasion, we plan to organize several events where we want to both commemorate a century of flying to Košice and bring Košice Airport closer to our community, emphasizing our mission to actively contribute to the long-term and sustainable development of Eastern Slovakia."

One such event will be the popular Košice Runway Run. Runners will be able to return to the runway of Košice Airport at the end of April. In addition, Košice Airport, as the first one in Slovakia has started with production of its own podcast. It is available (in Slovak language) on podcasting platforms and on youtube, as well.

Winter flight schedule 2023 at Košice Airport:

• LOT Polish Airlines 6x a week to Warsaw and further within their wide network of destinations in Europe, the USA, Canada, Asia, and Africa.
• Austrian Airlines 11x a week to Vienna and further within their wide network of destinations in Europe, the USA, Canada, and the Caribbean.
• Ryanair to destinations: London Stansted (5x a week), Prague (4x a week), Liverpool (2x a week).
• Wizz Air to London Luton (5x a week)

New routes announced for 2024:

• SWISS International Airlines will fly three times a week (on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) to Zurich and further within their wide network of destinations in Europe, the USA, Canada, Asia, and Africa, starting from March 27, 2024;
• Ryanair will fly twice a week (on Wednesday and Sunday) to the popular Croatian destination of Zadar, starting from March 31, 2024
• Ryanair will again fly twice a week (on Thursday and Sunday) to the Irish capital Dublin, starting from March 31, 2024.