Hi all,
Me and a few friends are planning to visit Krakow and the surrounding points of interest in two weeks (Ascension weekend). We are just in the early planning but from what I’ve read so far, Krakows main airport might not be the most suitable choice.
Any suggestions of suitable alternatives? IFR Airport if possible but it’s not mandatory.
Thanks in advance all.
Krakow main airport is not bad for GA, at least it was good 3 years ago. I was planning to go to EPKP Pobiednik but due to heavy rain the runway was too muddy. Others in our group went there and apart from the muddy grass, it was very good.
Krakow was the only time I had to declare an emergency as a pilot. There were heavy thunderstorms all around the airport and they had an airliner lined up for minutes waiting for the thunderstorms to move on. Krakow tower refused to let me land before the airliner departed and it took an emergency to convince them to let me land. Well I self-cleared for landing but they then repeated my own clearance…
“Krakow main airport is not bad for GA”
Last year they refused my landing there although I came with an accepted flightplan. I was told that they have no parking lot. Check NOTAMS carefully!
Obviously Krakow airport is very expensive today, check PIREPS on eddh.de. The alternate Katowice turned out a good destination for visiting Krakow since they are not expensive and they have a frequent bus shuttle from the airport to the city of Krakow.
Did you go there VFR or IFR?
Last year they refused my landing there although I came with an accepted flightplan
Your fault. Flight plans have nothing to do with airport operations. Two different worlds.
Last year (almost the same time) main Krakow airport was closed for GA traffic and PPR for others with limited parking abilities. That’s why I decided to go to Pobednik. Overall not bad, but not after rain. We landed and parked without any troubles, but when tried to taxi out of parking, aircraft stuked in wet ground. Fourtunetely, there was someone to help us to push out the airplane.
“Did you go there VFR or IFR?”
It was an IFR flight from Germany.
“Your fault. Flight plans have nothing to do with airport operations”
You are right. Lesson learnt. NOTAMS are sometimes important.
Thanks for all the replies, sounds like Katowice is a good alternative.
We are planning to visit auschwitz and to enjoy the city of Kraków. Is Katowice a good alternative to stay in?
Also, can we manage without a rental car?
Thanks in advance.
“Katowice is a good alternative”
Yes it is, LKPT has IFR approaches, which I did forget to mention.
Is Katowice a good alternative to stay in?
No, it`s awfull. I recommend to avoid. Take a hotel in Krakow, there are plenty.
Krakow city is really nice, much better than I did imagine before my visit. I cannot recommend Auschwitz, it´s like a tourist trap and some houses are build in the fiftees as illustrative material.
Correction: EPKT Katowice
