Airport Guide

History of Copernicus Airport Wroclaw

As with many airports in the region, Wroclaw's principal air base was established with a military objective in mind back in 1938.

Serving most of the war as a base for German operations, the airport then came under Soviet military control for a brief period once the Iron Curtain came down over Europe.

While Wroclaw became a purely civilian airport in 1948, for the next few decades, it only handled domestic flights within Poland, notably shuttle services to Warswa, Katowice and Poznan.

Indeed, it was not until 1993 that the first international flight - to Frankfurt - took off from Wroclaw, with the subsequent boom in cheap flights from the rest of Europe to Poland putting the historic city firmly on the map for budget holidaymakers, as well as business travellers.

In 2005, Wroclaw Airport was named in honour of the famous Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, with the same year also witnessing the official opening of an enlarged passenger terminal.

Currently, work is being carried out to further expand the airport, with a new terminal building, taxiway, car park and conference centre expected to be completed by the end of 2010.

Travelling to Copernicus Airport Wroclaw

Getting to Wroclaw's historic centre from Copernicus Airport is straightforward enough.

Bus number 406 runs every half an hour during the daytime, linking the terminal buildings with the central railway and bus station, while the same route is run by the 249 during the night.

Alternatively, taxis are always available, offering a shortened journey, often at relatively little extra cost.

Airlines flying from Copernicus Airport Wroclaw

Suitably, given that Wroclaw was for so long dominated by internal flights before welcoming services from neighbouring Germany, LOT Polish Airlines and Lufthansa are the most-established operators flying out of Copernicus Airport.

In addition to operating regular shuttle services to Warsaw, LOT also flies to Frankfurt and Munich through its international arm EuroLOT.

At the same time, Lufthansa Regional flies to several German cities through its subsidiaries, including Munich through Air Dolomiti and Augsburg Airways, Frankfurt by Lufthansa City Line and Dusseldorf through Eurowings.

However, it is newcomer Ryanair which now dominates the tarmac at Wroclaw.

The low-cost airline currently offers cheap flights to Bournemouth, Bristol, Brussels, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Girona, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Shannon, Weeze and Stockholm.

At the same time, Norwegian Air Shuttle flies to Oslo, while Wizz Air flies to London Luton Airport.

Find flights today with the Flights Network here to make searching for you easier.

Another article in this series is on London Heathrow Airport or you could use our search for more help