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
taxiways, and the installation of high intensity runway lights. 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 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 of it. The airport also has a favorable location on the network of existing and planned
motorways in this region of Poland. In 2021,
Ryanair 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 in Poland to pass the 9 million threshold in terms of the number of passengers served annually. It collaborated with 25
traditional and
low-cost airlines offering 161 flight connections to 123 airports located in 113 cities in 35 countries. ==Facilities==