Kraków John Paul II International Airport

Kraków John Paul II International Airport (Polish: Kraków Airport im. Jana Pawła II since 4 September 2007; earlier in Polish: Międzynarodowy Port Lotniczy im. Jana Pawła II Kraków–Balice) (IATA: KRK, ICAO: EPKK) is an international airport located near Kraków, in the village of Balice, 11 km (6.8 mi) west[2] of the city centre, in southern Poland. It is the second busiest airport of the country in terms of the volume of passengers served annually.

"John Paul II Airport" redirects here. For the airport in Ponta Delgada, see João Paulo II Airport. For the airport in Italy, see Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport.
Kraków John Paul II
International Airport

Kraków Airport im. Jana Pawła II
Summary
Airport typeMilitary/Public
OperatorJohn Paul II Krakow-Balice International Airport Ltd.
ServesKraków
LocationBalice, Poland
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL241 m / 791 ft
Coordinates50°04′40″N 019°47′05″E
Websitekrakowairport.pl
Map
EPKK
Location in Lesser Poland Voivodeship
EPKK
EPKK (Poland)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
07/25 2,550 8,366 Concrete
07L/25R (emergency) 2,550 8,366 Grass
Statistics (2020)
Passenger volume2,592,972[1] 69%
Aircraft movements51,777 (2018)

History

Early years

The airport opened for civil aviation in 1964. The Balice airport was a military site until 28 February 1968. Four years later, the first passenger terminal was built there.

In 1988, the authorities decided to build a new terminal that was opened for public use in 1993. In 1995, the entire apron was modernized.

In 1995, the airport's name was changed from Kraków–Balice Airport to John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice, to honor Pope John Paul II, who spent many years of his life in Kraków and had served as Archbishop of Kraków from 1963 until his elevation to the Papacy in 1978. For marketing reasons, the official name was further "streamlined" on 4 September 2007 as Kraków Airport im. Jana Pawła II.

Development since the 2000s

The airport was modernized once more in 2002, and since then new international connections have been established.

In 2003, when Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair became interested in starting a service from the John Paul II International Airport, the airport authorities refused to reduce the landing fees. In response, the regional authorities of Kraków and Lesser Poland Voivodeship decided to build a new airport near the existing one, using the infrastructure of the military airbase adjacent to the shared runway. Finally an agreement was reached, and the existing airport was opened to Ryanair and other low-cost carriers such as Germanwings, EasyJet, and Centralwings.

On 1 March 2007, a separate domestic terminal (T2) was opened. At that time, plans were underway to begin construction of a new terminal.

A seven-story parking garage opposite T1 became fully operational in May 2010.[3]

On 12 December 2012, Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair announced it would be opening its second Polish base in Kraków basing two Boeing 737-800 aircraft at the airport from 31 March 2013, which allows the carrier to increase the number of the routes from Kraków to 31.

Kraków Airport is the second busiest airport in the country after Warsaw Chopin Airport. The airport has good growth prospects, as almost 8 million people live within 100 km (62 mi) of it. The airport also has a favorable location on the network of existing and planned motorways in this region of Poland.

Facilities

Terminal

11 April 2013 saw the beginning of construction works of a new airport terminal, which is adjacent to the existing old terminal building. The works on the new terminal were completed in December 2016. The terminal serves all-year-round, 24 hours a day, both domestic as well as international flights. The expected maximum capacity of the terminal is up to 8 million passengers handled in a year (over twice as much as the airport served in 2012). It is also possible to handle transfer passengers irrespective of the routes (Schengen/Non-Schengen destinations). The terminal has a new luggage handling system and a roofed footbridge connecting the terminal to a hotel, a multi-level parking lot and the railway station, with direct railway link to Kraków Główny by Koleje Małopolskie.

Runway

The airport has one concrete runway, number 07/25, 2,550 m × 60 m (8,366 ft × 197 ft).

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Seasonal: Athens[4][5]
Air France Paris–Charles de Gaulle[6]
British Airways London–Heathrow[7]
easyJet Basel/Mulhouse, Edinburgh, Geneva, London–Gatwick, Lyon, Manchester, Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Enter Air Seasonal charter: Antalya,[8] Chania,[9] Hurghada,[8] Madiera,[8] Palermo,[9]
Eurowings Düsseldorf, Stuttgart
flydubaiDubai–International[10]
Jet2.com Birmingham, Glasgow,[11] Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne[12]
KLM Amsterdam
LOT Polish Airlines Chicago–O'Hare,[13] Gdańsk, Olsztyn-Mazury,[14] Warsaw–Chopin, Tel Aviv[15]
Seasonal: Barcelona,[16] Bucharest,[17] Chania,[16] Corfu,[16] Dubrovnik,[18] Kalamata,[16] Kavala,[16] New York-JFK, Rome–Fiumicino,[16] Santorini,[16] Thessaloniki,[16] Zadar,[16] Zakynthos[16]
Lufthansa Frankfurt, Munich
Luxair Luxembourg[19]
Norwegian Air Shuttle Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm–Arlanda
Ryanair[20] Alicante, Amman-Queen Alia, Athens, Barcelona, Bari, Beauvais, Belfast–International, Bergamo, Billund, Birmingham, Bologna, Bournemouth, Bristol, Brussels, Charleroi, Cagliari, Catania, Copenhagen, Dortmund, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Frankfurt, Gdańsk, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv–Boryspil, Lamezia Terme, Leeds/Bradford, Lisbon, Liverpool, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Lviv, Madrid, Málaga, Malmö, Malta, Manchester, Marseille, Naples, Odessa, Palermo, Paphos, Pescara, Pisa, Porto, Prague, Rome–Ciampino, Sandefjord, Seville, Shannon, Stockholm–Skavsta, Szczecin, Tel Aviv, Tenerife-South, Thessaloniki, Treviso, Valencia
Seasonal: Bordeaux, Burgas, Chania, Lourdes, Nuremberg, Palma de Mallorca, Podgorica, Rimini, Zadar
Scandinavian Airlines Copenhagen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Smartwings Seasonal charter: Chania,[9] Corfu[9]
Swiss International Air Lines Zürich
Transavia Eindhoven
Wizz Air[21] Barcelona, Bari, Bergen, Billund, Birmingham, Catania, Doncaster/Sheffield, Eindhoven, Kharkiv, Kyiv–Zhuliany, Larnaca, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Milan–Malpensa, Oslo, Rome–Fiumicino, Stavanger, Stockholm-Skavsta, Tel Aviv, Tromso, Trondheim, Turku
Seasonal: Heraklion (begins 15 June 2021),[22] Kutaisi, Nice, Reykjavik–Keflavík, Santorini (begins 16 June 2021)[23]

Statistics

Annual traffic
YearPassenger CountPercent Change
2003593,214
2004841,123 42%
20051,586,130 89%
20062,367,257 49%
20073,068,199 30%
20082,923,961 5%
20092,680,322 8%
20102,863,996 7%
20113,014,060 5%
20123,439,758 14%
20133,647,616 6%
20143,817,792 5%
20154,221,171 11%
20164,983,645 18%
20175,835,189 17%
20186,769,369 17%
20198,410,817 24%
20202,592,972 69%

It was the 63rd busiest airport in Europe in 2019 and had the greatest increase in passengers in all of Europe in 2019 with a 24.2% passenger increase in 2019 compared to 2018.

Ground transportation

In addition to road access by private car or taxi, other options are:

Train
Train at "Krakow Lotnisko" station

The SKA1 suburban line operates from the Airport to Kraków Główny (Main railway station) and further to Wieliczka. The service resumed in September 2015. It takes about 17 minutes to get to the city centre,[24] and further 20 minutes to Wieliczka (for Salt Mine).

Bus

Public buses link the airport during the day and during the night with the main railway and bus station in Kraków (Kraków Główny railway station) and the ICE Congress Centre.

See also

References
  1. "Podsumowanie 2020 roku w Kraków Airport". Krakowairport.pl (in Polish). 11 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  2. "EAD Basic". Ead.eurocontrol.int. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  3. "Na lotnisku w Krakowie powstaje wielopoziomowy parking" (in Polish). www.2012.org.pl. 2009-12-18. Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  4. Hubert Choroszewski. "Nowa trasa z Krakowa! Polecimy linią Aegean do Aten!" (in Polish). fly4free.pl. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  5. Piotr Golianek. "Kraków: Aegean tylko latem" (in Polish). pasazer.com. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  6. "Air France wylądował w #KrakowAirport". krakow airport. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  7. Piotr Bożyk. "British Airways powraca do Krakowa" (in Polish). pasazer.com. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  8. "Charter flights". tui.pl.
  9. "air and charter tickets". itaka.pl.
  10. "Flydubai to begin flights to Krakow, Catania in 2018". 6 December 2017.
  11. https://www.jet2.com/en/cheap-flights/glasgow/krakow?from=2021-05-31&adults=2&children&infants=0&preselect=true
  12. https://www.jet2.com/en/cheap-flights/newcastle/krakow?from=2021-06-30&adults=2&children&infants=0&preselect=false&searchType=4
  13. Liu, Jim (19 October 2020). "PLL LOT zawieszą regularne połączenie Kraków-Chicago". routesonline.com.
  14. 2018, tanie-loty.com.pl. "LOT Polish Airlines is expanding its route network from the Olsztyn-Mazury airport". Retrieved 12 December 2018.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. https://corporate.lot.com/pl/en/connections
  16. Liu, Jim (29 June 2020). "LOT Polish Airlines outlines Summer 2020 LOTnaWakacje Holiday program". routesonline.com.
  17. "Nowości w zimowym rozkładzie LOTu". Airlineroute. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  18. "LOT Polish Airlines increases Krakow European network in S19". Airlineroute. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  19. https://www.pasazer.com/news/44484/luxair,poleci,z,krakowa,do,luksemburga.html
  20. https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/timetable
  21. https://wizzair.com/en-gb/flights/timetable#/
  22. https://wizzair.com/#/
  23. https://wizzair.com/#/
  24. "By train". Krakow Airport. Retrieved 2013-09-10.

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