Published: 2026-08-21
Air Arabia is adding a third Polish city to its route map. On 2026-08-21 the Sharjah-based low-cost carrier announced a new non-stop service between Sharjah International Airport and Katowice in southern Poland, starting 2026-12-17 with four flights a week on the Airbus A320neo. Katowice joins Warsaw Chopin and Krakow, making Poland the country with the densest Air Arabia coverage in Central Europe. Bookings are already open through the airline’s website, call centre and travel agencies. For UAE businesses the announcement means direct, affordable access to the industrial heart of Poland, and for entrepreneurs from the region it is one more easy way to reach the Emirates without connecting through crowded hubs.
What Air Arabia announced
The parameters of the new service are straightforward:
- Route: Sharjah (SHJ) to Katowice (KTW), non-stop in both directions.
- Frequency: four flights a week.
- Start date: 2026-12-17.
- Aircraft: Airbus A320neo, the fuel-efficient narrow-body Air Arabia uses on its European sectors.
- Sales: open from day one via airarabia.com, the call centre and travel agencies.
Adel Al Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer of Air Arabia, said the carrier is pleased to introduce Katowice to its network from Sharjah, adding that the new four-weekly service will provide customers with more choices while supporting tourism, business and economic ties between the UAE and Poland. On the Polish side, Artur Tomasik, CEO of Katowice Airport, called Air Arabia a network carrier that significantly strengthens the airport’s connectivity and said he anticipates strong two-way traffic.
Third Polish city: what the network now looks like
Katowice is not a standalone experiment. Air Arabia has been building its European network out of Sharjah at a remarkable pace, and Poland has quietly become one of its priority markets:
- Krakow and Warsaw Chopin are already served non-stop from Sharjah.
- Katowice becomes the third Polish destination on 2026-12-17.
- In Germany, daily Sharjah-Munich flights have operated since 2025-12-15, and daily Sharjah-Frankfurt flights start 2026-12-15, as we covered in our review of Air Arabia’s new daily Frankfurt route.
- The wider European map also includes Milan Bergamo, Vienna, Athens, Prague and London Gatwick, where flights began on 2026-07-05, with Rome announced in July 2026.
Three cities in one country is a strong statement for a low-cost carrier. It reflects both the size of the Polish market, the largest economy in Central and Eastern Europe, and the volume of traffic between Poland and the Gulf: workers, tourists, students and a growing community of Polish entrepreneurs doing business in the UAE. It also fits Air Arabia’s hub model: passengers from southern Poland will connect in Sharjah to the carrier’s network across the Middle East, South Asia and Africa, routes that previously required a transfer in Istanbul, Doha or Dubai.
Why Katowice: the industrial heart of Poland
Katowice is less famous than Warsaw or Krakow, but for business travel it is arguably the most interesting of the three. The city is the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship and the centre of the Upper Silesian conurbation, one of the largest urban areas in Poland with more than 2 million residents. Historically built on coal and steel, the region has transformed into a diversified economy of automotive plants, machinery, logistics and a fast-growing IT and business services sector. Katowice hosted the COP24 UN climate summit in 2018 and has become a major conference and e-sports venue, while Katowice Airport in Pyrzowice serves the whole of southern Poland, a catchment that stretches from Wroclaw to Krakow’s western suburbs.
For UAE companies this matters in three practical ways:
- Sourcing and manufacturing. Silesia is one of Central Europe’s densest industrial clusters. UAE trading and construction companies buying machinery, steel products, automotive components or building materials get a direct four-weekly link to their suppliers.
- Talent and services. Southern Poland is a major outsourcing and engineering hub. UAE firms hiring Polish developers, engineers or back-office teams can now run face-to-face management trips without a connection.
- Inbound investors. Entrepreneurs from Silesia exploring the Gulf gain a budget non-stop route that lands them 15 minutes from Sharjah’s free zones and about half an hour from Dubai’s business districts.
What it means for UAE business and relocation from Central Europe
The UAE has been steadily gaining popularity among Polish and wider Central European founders: zero personal income tax, a 9 percent corporate tax with generous free zone regimes, banking in a stable currency and residency visas tied to company ownership. The practical barrier has never been paperwork, it has been distance and cost of staying connected to home operations. Every new direct route lowers that barrier. With Warsaw, Krakow and now Katowice all connected to Sharjah, a founder from practically anywhere in Poland can run a UAE company with regular short trips, keeping the Polish business and the family within a single direct flight.
The timing is also telling. Air Arabia’s winter expansion, Frankfurt from 2026-12-15 and Katowice from 2026-12-17, lands just before the peak season for Gulf tourism and the start of the corporate year, when many European entrepreneurs finalise their plans for international structures. A four-weekly schedule is enough to build a workable commute: fly out after the weekend, spend two or three days in the Emirates, return home within the same week.
How Atlant Capital can help
Atlant Capital works with founders and investors who use the UAE as their base for international business, including clients with active operations in Central and Eastern Europe. We handle company registration in UAE free zones and mainland, including Sharjah free zones located minutes from the airport, typically within 1-2 weeks, and we arrange work visas and UAE residency for shareholders, employees and their families. If your business connects the Gulf with Poland or the wider EU, we will help you pick the right jurisdiction, open the bank account and build a structure that works on both ends of the route. One point of contact, fixed fees, realistic timelines.
Conclusion
A four-weekly low-cost flight between Sharjah and Katowice will not make headlines the way a new flagship route to London or Frankfurt does. But it is exactly the kind of connection that changes behaviour: it plugs an industrial region of 2 million people directly into the UAE and gives businesses on both sides a cheap, predictable way to meet. From 2026-12-17 Poland will have three non-stop bridges to Sharjah, and the UAE’s role as the default base for Central European entrepreneurs going global will only get stronger.
FAQ
When do Air Arabia’s Sharjah-Katowice flights start?
Non-stop flights between Sharjah and Katowice start on 2026-12-17, with four flights a week operated on the Airbus A320neo. Tickets are already on sale through the Air Arabia website, call centre and travel agencies.
Which Polish cities does Air Arabia serve from Sharjah?
With Katowice added on 2026-12-17, Air Arabia serves three Polish destinations non-stop from Sharjah: Krakow, Warsaw Chopin and Katowice. Poland becomes the airline’s best-covered market in Central Europe.
Why is Katowice important for business travellers?
Katowice is the centre of the Upper Silesian conurbation, an urban area of more than 2 million residents and one of Central Europe’s densest industrial clusters, with automotive, machinery, logistics and IT sectors. Katowice Airport serves the whole of southern Poland.
What does the new route mean for UAE companies?
It creates a direct, affordable link between the UAE and southern Poland for sourcing, hiring and investor travel, and it gives Polish entrepreneurs a budget non-stop route into Sharjah, minutes away from its free zones and about half an hour from Dubai’s business districts.
