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
IATA: KRK ICAO: EPKK
Summary
Airport type	Military/Public
Operator	John Paul II Krakow-Balice International Airport Ltd.
Serves	Kraków
Location	Balice, Poland
Focus city for	Buzz LOT Polish Airlines Ryanair Wizz Air
Elevation AMSL	241 m / 791 ft
Coordinates	50°04′40″N 019°47′05″E
Website	krakowairport.pl
Map
EPKK Location in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Show map of Lesser Poland Voivodeship EPKK EPKK (Poland) Show map of Poland
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 07/25 2,550 8,366 Concrete 07L/25R (emergency) 2,550 8,366 Grass
Statistics (2019)
Passenger volume 8,410,817[1] 24% Aircraft movements 51,777 (2,018)

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

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Seasonal: Athens[4][5]
Air France	Paris–Charles de Gaulle[6]
Austrian Airlines	Vienna
British Airways	London–Heathrow[7]
Bulgarian Air Charter	Seasonal charter: Burgas[8]
Buzz[8]	Seasonal charter: Antalya, Burgas, Heraklion, Kos, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes, Tirana, Varna, Zakynthos[8]
easyJet	Belfast–International, Bristol, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Lyon, Manchester, Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Paris–Charles de Gaulle
easyJet Switzerland	Basel/Mulhouse[9]
Enter Air	Seasonal charter: Antalya,[8] Chania,[10],Hurghada[8],Madiera,[8] Palma de Mallorca, Palermo,[10]
Eurowings	Düsseldorf, Stuttgart
Finnair	Helsinki
Flydubai	Dubai–International[11]
Iberia Express	Seasonal: Madrid
Jet2.com	Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
KLM	Amsterdam
LOT Polish Airlines	Budapest,[12] Chicago–O'Hare, Gdańsk, New York–JFK,[13] Olsztyn-Mazury,[14] Tel Aviv,[15] Warsaw–Chopin Seasonal: Barcelona,[16] Bucharest,[17] Chania,[16] Corfu,[16] Dubrovnik,[18] Kalamata,[16] Kavala,[16] Rome–Fiumicino,[16] Santorini,[16] Thessaloniki,[16] Zadar,[16] Zakynthos[16]
Lufthansa	Frankfurt, Munich
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Bergen, Copenhagen, Helsinki,[19] Oslo–Gardermoen, Stavanger, Stockholm–Arlanda, Trondheim
Ryanair	Alicante, Amman–Queen Alia, Athens, Barcelona, Bari, Beauvais, Belfast–International, Bergamo, Berlin–Tegel, Birmingham, Bologna, Bournemouth, Bristol, Charleroi, Cagliari, Catania, Copenhagen, Dortmund, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Frankfurt, Gdańsk, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kiev–Boryspil, Leeds, Lisbon, Liverpool, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Lviv, Madrid, Málaga, Malmö, Malta, Manchester, Marseille, Naples, Odessa, Palermo, Paphos, Pisa, Porto, Prague, Rome–Ciampino, Sandefjord, Seville, Shannon, Stockholm–Skavsta, Stuttgart, Szczecin, Tel Aviv, Thessaloniki, Treviso, Valencia Seasonal: Burgas, Chania, Eilat, Lourdes/Tarbes, Palma de Mallorca
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Smartwings Poland	Seasonal charter: Chania,[10] Corfu[10]
Sun d'Or	Tel Aviv
Swiss International Air Lines	Zürich
Transavia	Eindhoven
Wizz Air	Barcelona ,[20] Bari, Bergen,[20] Billund, Birmingham, Catania, Doncaster/Sheffield, Eindhoven, Haugesund,[20] Kharkiv, Kiev–Zhuliany, Kutaisi, Larnaca, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Milan–Malpensa,[20] Oslo–Gardermoen, Rome–Fiumicino, Stavanger,[20] Stockholm–Skavsta (begins 16 July 2020),[20] Tel Aviv, Tromsø,[20] Trondheim,[20] Turku, Zaporizhia Seasonal: Nice, Reykjavik–Keflavík

Statistics

Annual traffic

Year	Passenger Count	Percent Change
2003	593,214
2004	841,123	42%
2005	1,586,130	89%
2006	2,367,257	49%
2007	3,068,199	30%
2008	2,923,961	5%
2009	2,680,322	8%
2010	2,863,996	7%
2011	3,014,060	5%
2012	3,439,758	14%
2013	3,647,616	6%
2014	3,817,792	5%
2015	4,221,171	11%
2016	4,983,645	18%
2017	5,835,189	17%
2018	6,769,369	17%
2019	8,410,817	24%

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,[21] and further 20 minutes to Wieliczka (for Salt Mine). The railway line ultimately reaches the terminal building, rather than the previous temporary stop located 250 m (820 ft) from the terminal.[22] The price to the city is 9 PLN. Tickets can be bought from ticket machines (located in the arrival hall, on the platform, or - sometimes - in the train) or from the staff onboard (cash only).

Bus

Public buses link the airport during the day (lines 208, 209, hourly, and 252, every 30 minutes) and during the night (line 902, hourly) with the main railway and bus station in Kraków (Kraków Główny railway station) and the ICE Congress Centre. Normal city tariff applies thus making it by far the cheapest public transport connection to the city centre, at 4.60zł (allowing for bus/tram transfers within 50 minutes from boarding). Public buses can be used after purchasing tickets from a ticket machine located in the arrival hall, at the bus stop (with cash or credit card) or from ticket machines that can be found in most buses (sometimes with either coins or card only). All tickets have to be validated after getting on a bus. It is also possible to use private-owned bus and minibus services connecting the airport with the city center or other cities in Poland. Tickets require bookings in advance.

See also

• List of airports in Poland

References

1. Czas lokalny: 22:25. "Statystyki miesięczne 2020". Krakowairport.pl. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
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. "Pasazer.com: Cztery nowe trasy easyJet z Krakowa". Pasazer.com. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
10. "air and charter tickets". itaka.pl.
11. "Flydubai to begin flights to Krakow, Catania in 2018". 6 December 2017.
12. "Nowa trasa LOT z Krakowa! I więcej lotów do Chicago! - Fly4free.pl - tanie loty i sposoby na tanie bilety lotnicze".
13. Liu, Jim (22 September 2019). "LOT Polish Airlines resumes Krakow – New York service in May 2020". Routesonline. Informa Markets. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
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. 2018, Jim (13 July 2018). "LOT Polish Airlines plans Krakow – Tel Aviv launch from Feb 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 13 July 2018.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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. Norwegian opens the route from Helsinki to Krakow - more flights to Malaga, Alicante and Rhodes lentoposti.fi (in Finnish) 26 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018
20. Liu, Jim. "Wizz Air S20 new routes addition as of 09JUN20". Routesonline. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
21. "By train". Krakow Airport. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
22. "Train station". Krakow Airport. Retrieved 2013-09-10.

External links

Media related to John Paul II Airport in Balice-Kraków at Wikimedia Commons

• Airport website (in English and Polish)
• John Paul II International Airport, Krakow, Poland