John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice
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| John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice Międzynarodowy Port Lotniczy im. Jana Pawła II Kraków-Balice |
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|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: KRK - ICAO: EPKK | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military/Public | ||
| Operator | GTL | ||
| Serves | Kraków | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 791 ft (241 m) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 07/25 | 8,366 | 2,550 | Concrete |
John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice (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 west of the city, 35 minutes from the city centre, in the south of Poland.
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[edit] History and present circumstances
The airport opened for civil aviation in 1964. Earlier, there was an older airport operating at Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny, now the site of the Polish Aviation Museum.
The current Kraków airport is the second biggest one in the country after the Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport, and is the leading Polish regional airport. The Kraków airport has very good prospects for development, as almost 8 million people live within 100 kilometers of it. It also has a favourable location in the network of existing and planned motorways in this region of Poland.
In 1995 the airport's name was changed from Kraków-Balice Airport to John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice, after Pope John Paul II who spent many years of his life in Kraków.
In 2003, when Irish low-fare airline Ryanair was said to be interested in starting its service from the John Paul II International Airport, the airport authorities refused to reduce the airport fee. 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 other low-cost carriers such as Aer Lingus, Sky Europe, Germanwings, Easyjet and Centralwings. But the regional authorities still want to attract Ryanair, and it is often said that Ryanair is likely planning on using the Kraków airport as its hub in Central and Eastern Europe.
The number of flight destinations from the Kraków airport is growing every year. In 2005 there were more than 1.5 million passengers, a nearly 95% increase over 2004.
Sky Europe bases a lot of its flights at the Kraków airport, and it has more flights originating in Kraków than any other airline, including LOT Polish Airlines.
As of May 26, 2006 there now exists a rail link between the main railroad station in Kraków and the airport in Kraków-Balice. The travel time from city centre to a temporary train stop situated 200 m from the airport terminal is 15 minutes.
[edit] Airlines and destinations
- Aer Lingus (Dublin)
- Alitalia
- operated by Alitalia Express (Milan-Malpensa)
- Austrian Airlines
- operated by Austrian Arrows (Vienna)
- British Airways (London-Gatwick)
- Centralwings (Bologna, Cork, London-Gatwick, Rome-Ciampino)
- Czech Airlines (Prague)
- Direct Fly (Gdańsk)
- easyJet (Belfast [starts 24 April 2007] ,Bristol, Dortmund, Liverpool, London-Gatwick [starts September 2007], London-Luton, Newcastle [starts 30 March 2007])
- Finnair (Helsinki)
- Germanwings (Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart)
- Jet2.com (Leeds-Bradford, Newcastle)
- LOT Polish Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare, Frankfurt, New York-JFK, Newark, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Tel Aviv, Warsaw)
- operated by Eurolot (Vienna, Warsaw)
- Lufthansa
- operated by Lufthansa CityLine (Munich)
- Malév Hungarian Airlines (Budapest)
- Norwegian Air Shuttle (Oslo, Stockholm-Arlanda)
- Ryanair (Dublin, Frankfurt-Hahn, Glasgow-Prestwick, Liverpool, London-Stansted, Shannon)
- SkyEurope (Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Birmingham, Brussels, Dublin, Edinburgh, London-Stansted, Manchester, Milan-Orio al Serio, Naples, Paris-Orly, Rome-Fiumicino, Turin)
- Sterling Airlines (Copenhagen)
[edit] Statistics
| year | passengers | cargo (in t) | aircraft movements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 94,625 | 953 | 6,069 |
| 1994 | 122,249 | 1,423 | 5,799 |
| 1995 | 45,074 | 849 | 2,388 |
| 1996 | 196,516 | 684 | 8,606 |
| 1997 | 258,283 | 1,060 | 12,612 |
| 1998 | 353,388 | 1,281 | 11,791 |
| 1999 | 419,487 | 1,653 | 13,089 |
| 2000 | 517,015 | 2,468 | 15,288 |
| 2001 | 549,298 | 1,799 | 15,674 |
| 2002 | 500,852 | 1,586 | 15,290 |
| 2003 | 593,214 | 2,071 | 17,029 |
| 2004[1] | 803,161 | 3 289 | 14,322 |
| 2005[1] | 1,564,338 | 3,255 | 21,951 |
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Airport website (English) (Polish)
- Krakow Online - Balice Airport Guide (English)
- World Aero Data airport information for EPKK
Bydgoszcz Ignacy Jan Paderewski Airport (BZG) • Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (GDN) • Katowice International Airport (KTW) • Łódź Władysław Reymont Airport (LCJ) • John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice (KRK) • Poznań-Ławica Airport (POZ) • Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport (RZE) • Szczecin-Goleniów "Solidarność" Airport (SZZ) • Szczytno-Szymany International Airport (SZY) • Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport (WAW) • Copernicus Airport Wrocław (WRO) • Zielona Góra Airport (IEG)
