The United Kingdom and Italy remained Poland’s two strongest international air markets in the first half of 2025, according to the Civil Aviation Authority (ULC), underscoring the continuing pull of Western Europe for travellers flying in and out of Polish airports.

ULC figures for international scheduled services show around 3.954 million passengers travelled on routes between Poland and the UK, giving it a 16.45% share of all international scheduled passengers in the period. Italy followed with 3.087 million travellers (12.84%), while Spain ranked third at 2.310 million (9.61%).

In its latest report, the regulator said the pattern held steady quarter-on-quarter: “In international scheduled services in the first half of 2025 (and similarly in the second quarter), the most popular direction of travel to/from Poland was the United Kingdom, followed by Italy and Spain.” 

ULC added that “the biggest increases in absolute numbers were recorded for the aforementioned Italy and Spain.”

Beyond the top three, the next largest scheduled markets were Germany (approx. 1.94 million), Norway (1.12 million), the Netherlands (1.08 million), and France (1.02 million), with Denmark (704,200), Sweden (609,700) and Greece (562,900) completing the top ten.

The same hierarchy appeared in the second quarter of 2025, when ULC recorded 2.04 million travellers between Poland and the UK, followed by Italy (1.92 million) and Spain (1.24 million). Germany, Norway, France and the Netherlands were again close behind, with Greece, Denmark and Sweden also in the top group.

City-by-city, London dominated scheduled traffic. ULC reported 2.328 million passengers flew to and from the UK capital in the first half of the year, a 9.68% share, far ahead of the next two destinations, Milan (878,300; 3.65%) and Rome (802,500; 3.34%).

A second tier of major European hubs and capitals followed: Oslo (733,900), Paris (724,000), Frankfurt (716,000), Amsterdam (686,200), Copenhagen (629,300), Barcelona (606,900) and Munich (535,700).

For the second quarter alone, London still led the podium at 1.202 million passengers, with Milan (532,900) and Paris (430,100) next, followed by Frankfurt, Oslo, Rome, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Munich.

ULC’s report also highlights a different picture in the charter segment. In the first half of the year, Egypt was the most popular charter destination, ahead of Turkey and Greece in the second quarter, Turkey moved into first place, followed by Egypt and Greece. It was also noted that Egypt, Spain and Turkey recorded the largest absolute growth in charter passenger numbers in both the half-year and the second quarter.

Photo: British Poles

Tomasz Modrzejewski