Kraków John Paul II International Airport ( since 4 September 2007; earlier in ) is an international

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

located near

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, in the village of Balice, west of the city centre, in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The airport is named after

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. It is the second-busiest airport of the country in terms of the volume of passengers served annually after

Warsaw Chopin Airport Warsaw Chopin Airport (, ) is an international airport in the Włochy district of Warsaw, Poland. It is the busiest airport in Poland and the 28th busiest airport in Europe with 21.3 million passengers in 2024, handling approximately 40% of ...

. In 2024, it handled over 11 million passengers.

History

Early years

Construction of the airport started in 1964. It opened for civil aviation in 1967, and was a military site until 28 February 1968. Four years later, the first passenger terminal was built there. In the 1970s, the airport saw further development, which included an increase in the length of the runway by 400 meters, the construction of

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with Airport apron, aprons, hangars, Airport terminal, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as Asphalt concrete, asphalt or concrete, although sma ...

s, and the installation of high intensity runway lights. 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

, who was born in relatively nearby

Wadowice Wadowice () is a town in southern Poland, southwest of Kraków with 17,455 inhabitants (2022), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). Wadowice is known for being the bir ...

and had spent many years of his life in Kraków, including serving as

Archbishop of Kraków The archbishop of Kraków is the head of the archdiocese of Kraków. A bishop of Kraków first came into existence when the diocese was created in 1000; it was promoted to an archdiocese on 28 October 1925. Due to Kraków's role as Poland's politic ...

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. On 1 March 2007, a separate domestic terminal (T2) was opened. At that time, plans were underway to begin the construction of a new terminal. A seven-storey parking garage opposite T1 became fully operational in May 2010. On 12 December 2012, Irish low-cost carrier

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...

announced it would be opening its second Polish base in Kraków basing two

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a twinjet, twin-engine narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third-generation derivative of the Boeing 737, it ha ...

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

. The airport has good growth prospects, as almost 8 million people live within of it. The airport also has a favorable location on the network of existing and planned

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s in this region of Poland. In 2021,

announced a US$800 million investment plan into Kraków and its airport expected to bring more than 400 direct jobs for pilots, flight crews, and ground staff along with 3500 indirect jobs. In 2023, the airport handled over 9.4 million passengers becoming the first

regional airport A domestic airport is an airport that handles only flights within the same country. Domestic airports do not have customs and immigration facilities and so cannot handle flights to or from a foreign airport. These airports often have short r ...

in Poland to pass the 9 million threshold in terms of the number of passengers served annually. It collaborated with 25

traditional A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

and

low-cost airline A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...

s offering 161 flight connections to 123 airports located in 113 cities in 35 countries. In 2024, the airport authorities announced a plan to build a new terminal for the airport due to the inadequate capacity of the terminal opened in 2016.

Facilities

Terminal

Construction works of a new airport terminal began on 11 April 2013. The terminal was 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 The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

/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 Koleje Małopolskie (KMŁ; Lesser Poland Railways) is a regional rail operator in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of Poland. History The company was founded on 2 December 2013 and is owned by the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, to handle local passenge ...

Runway

The airport has one concrete

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

, number 07/25, .

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Kraków Airport:

Statistics

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

The SKA1 suburban line operates from the Airport to Kraków Główny (Main railway station) and further to

Wieliczka Wieliczka (German: ''Groß Salze'', Latin: ''Magnum Sal'') is a historic town in southern Poland, situated within the Kraków metropolitan area in Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. The town was initially founded in 1290 by Premislaus II of P ...

. The service resumed in September 2015. It takes about 17 minutes to get to the city centre, and further 20 minutes to

(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 Kraków Główny, in English Kraków Main, is the largest and the most centrally located railway station in Kraków, Poland. The railway station was situated in a historical building, constructed between 1844 and 1847 by Rosenbaum, which lies pa ...

) and the ''ICE Congress Centre''.

Military usage

The aerodrome includes a military area, on its South side, which hosts the ''8. Baza Lotnictwa Transportowego'' of the Polish Air Force, flying transport aircraft like the

EADS CASA C-295 The Airbus C295 (previously CASA C-295) is a medium tactical transport aircraft that was designed and initially manufactured by the Spanish aerospace company CASA, which is now part of the European multinational Airbus Defence and Space divi ...

References

External links

Airport website

John Paul II International Airport, Krakow, Poland
{{Authority control Krakow-Balice, John Paul II International Airport Buildings and structures in Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

Pope John Paul II Airports established in 1967 1967 establishments in Poland