Krakow Airport

Dreadful overcrowded lacking facilities that even the smallest airports elsewhere seem to have. I will now avoid it and fly to Warsaw. The train service to Krakow is preferable to another interminable wait at Krakow.

The airport is clearly far too small for the amount of people trying to go through it. Krakow is a nice up and coming city with lots to offer tourists. However they really need to sort the airport out. if you finally manage to check in you get to join possibly the longest queue in the world to get through security. There are only 3 metal detectors for the entire airport and the staff are in no hurry to get people through. On top of that the people of poland do not seem to understand the concept of queuing. It is simply a free for all with everyone just pushing in and no staff around to stop this blatant act going on.

We had rented a car from Warsaw and 1st problem on arrival at Krakow Balice is there are no signs for Car Rental return meaning lost time while we found where to return the car - you have to go to the 5th floor of the multi-story car part. There are no car rental staff to greet you on arrival we had to park our car in a different companies bay and go to the desk in the arrivals - totally chaotic. Ultimately this led to us missing our flight despite having arrived 90 minutes before departure. Facilities for passengers travelling with young children are limited; the self-service cafeteria on the 1st floor has a small pay area for kids; access to wi-fi (needed to re-book flights) is only possible if you already had pre-paid access there are fixed coin-operated internet terminals in the main concourse but these are pretty useless. To cap it all having taken the lift with our pushchair trolley loaded with bags 2 children the lift was broken when we wanted to go back to the ground floor - only option stairs - not a good experience! Overall I would say Krakow is not up to the necessary standard for a popular European city and does not do justice to a wonderful city.

I parked in the parking lot of the airport in July 2010. To my big surprise the system charged me for more than one hour (12 PLN) while I was less than 1 hour in the parking (6 PLN) The same happened to my brother in law's parking card. There is no time printed on the card so one can't check but I knew from my GPS and watch that I spent less than 1 hour when paying and si did also my brother in law who followed me. After some discussion with the responsibles they charged me only the hour pretending their system was working OK what obviously is NOT the case. I would not be surprised that the system is somewhat manipulated to round up to the hour as of 50 minutes. So please check exactly what time you take the card at the entry and when you pay.

KRK is a very small airport because it was originally a military base for Poland before part of the land of purchased to be converted into a commercial airport. Hence the single run-way and small building. Now as Krakow is gaining popularity the airport plans to expand and has purchased the last of the military land. They keep tradition and have military men at the security gates.

Our trip into Krakow had been simple and efficient and I was impressed. Unfortunately on departure we were given Gate 2 for our Ryanair flight to EMA. This gate is very poorly designed and passengers had to go upstairs to gate 3 to buy refreshments from anything other than a vending machine. Even at Gate 3 the staff were surly and took their time before condescending to serve you. Duty free was a joke poorly stocked and high prices. The view from the windows was onto an access road and a fence.

Very small airport considering the amount of tourists to Krakow. Arrival was fine queue to get through security but didn't take long. We only had hand luggage so no wait at carousel. Took local bus into Krakow driver very friendly and despite him having no english and us no polish we managed fine! Departure as chaotic as expected. Others have advised getting there 3 hours ahead to make sure you get through check in in time. Don't bother the airport won't let you check in early and there is nowhere to sit while you wait. Just make sure you are in the right queue when they start check in as it is a complete scrum. They did put small signs up about 20 mins too late. Otherwise airport clean and cool inside you can get drinks etc when through security but facilities limited. Don't be put off though Krakow itself is well worth suffering the airport!

One of the worst airports I've been to and it's a shame as the city of Krakow is fantastic. The security lines are shambolic and chaotic and inadequate to deal with passenger volumes. No one to point nor direct queues - it's a free-for - all particularly when it comes to a point that passengers are going to miss flights. We queued for nearly 1hr30 mins to be screened and as we neared the end more people just pushed past and jumped ahead. No staff whatsoever around to keep everything under control. On other occasions some staff did then seem to escort certain passengers to the front of the lines which is wrong when you have people queuing for ages. It's time the whole mess was sorted out. I begrudge giving 1 star to this airport. One piece of advice get there early to ensure you don't miss your flight.

Small and basic airport. Nothing special. Gloomy & surly staff. Not many smiles here. Immigration is slow and surly. Dont expect to get anywhere in a hurry. No shops after security when departing (except one perfume & booze shop). You have to wait in gloomy lounges with no facilities (bar food etc). You are taken by bus to the plane so dont buy any speedy boarding or priority boarding tickets here. Krakow is a great city to visit just a shame about the shoddy airport and gloomy staff.

Very small but functional airport. Perhaps we were expecting worse (because of Warsaw airport) it was a pleasant surprise for us. I guess this airport serves mostly smaller regional planes therefore less logistic nightmare of handling passenger load of any wide-bodied Boeing or Airbus. One drawback was that the security check was very thorough and slow which created a bit of a line up. Transfer to the city was very easy there are bus and train connections to near old town. Taxi to city centre is not too expensive. Overall we had a very pleasant experience with this airport.