Cheap flights from Katowice to Shanghai

November is the cheapest month for this route, and the fares listed here are dated, so you can watch them move as departure gets closer. Late autumn is quiet, September and October are busy with business travel, and December fills up with people flying home for the holidays. Midweek departures from Pyrzowice are usually gentler on the wallet than Friday and Sunday flights, when connections through Warsaw and Istanbul get tight. For a summer trip, book well ahead; for November, a shorter lead time often works out fine.

LOT Polish Airlines is the natural pick out of Katowice, feeding the route through its Warsaw hub with one ticket and one bag policy. Turkish Airlines via Istanbul, Finnair via Helsinki and Qatar Airways via Doha sell the same journey with a single stop and a full-service cabin, meals and a checked bag included. Air China is the Chinese carrier in the mix, while Delta Air Lines and American Airlines turn up on the longer multi-stop options. Air Dolomiti covers short feeder legs inside Europe. None of these is a low-cost airline, so the fare you see usually includes a bag, but fare families still differ.

Shanghai has two airports and they are not interchangeable. Pudong International lies well east of the centre and takes most long-haul arrivals, so allow real time for the run into town by taxi, airport bus or metro. Hongqiao International is closer in and doubles as the domestic hub, which matters if your ticket continues elsewhere in China. Check which airport your booking names before you arrange a pickup, and keep a generous buffer if you land at Pudong and travel on the same day.

Currency

CNY (¥)

Power sockets

Type A, C, I · 220 V

Language

Putonghua

Emergency number

110, 119, 120

Driving side

right

Calling code

+86

Internet domain

.cn, .中国

Population of Shanghai

24.9 M (2020)

Time zone

UTC+08 (Asia/Shanghai)

Country facts: Wikidata

• Check that your departure airport is Pyrzowice, the airport that serves Katowice.
• Confirm what your fare includes, since the long-haul leg and the short feeder leg can follow different baggage rules.
• If you book the connection as two separate tickets, leave a long buffer in Warsaw, Istanbul or Helsinki.
• Make sure your passport and any visa or transit permission for China are in order before you pay.
• Decide between Pudong International and Hongqiao International before you reserve a hotel.
• Weigh November against September and October, when fares on this route run higher.