John Paul II International Airport (Międzynarodowy Port Lotniczy im. Jana Pawła II Kraków-Balice) is an international (intercontinental) airport located near Krakow (in the village of Balice, 11 km west of the city, 35 minutes from the city centre), in the south of Poland. It opened for civil aviation in 1968. It is the second biggest airport in the country after the Warsaw airport (Frederick Chopin International Airport), and is the leading Polish regional airport. Krakow airport has very good prospects of development as almost eight 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 2003, Irish low-fare airline Ryanair wanted to start its service from John Paul II International Airport. The airport authorities refused to reduce the airport fee for this company, so the regional authorities of Krakow and Malopolskie Voivodship decided to build a new airport near the existing one, using the infrastructure of the military airbase. It is said that Ryanair is planning on using the new Krakow airport as its hub in Central and Eastern Europe.
In 1995 the airport was named after pope John Paul II, who spent many years of his life in Krakow.
IATA airport code: KRK
Altitude: 241 m above sea level
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Statistics (2002)
Flight destinations
{with percentage of passengers in 2002)
Airlines
See also
External link