Kraków John Paul II International Airport ( since 4 September 2007; earlier in ) is an international airport located near Kraków, in the village of Balice, west of the city centre, in southern Poland. It is the second busiest airport of the country in terms of the volume of passengers served annually. The airport is named after Pope John Paul II. History Early years The airport opened for civil aviation in 1964. The Balice airport was a military site until 28 February 1968. Four years later, the first passenger terminal was built there. In 1988, the authorities decided to build a new terminal that was opened for public use in 1993. In 1995, the entire apron was modernized. In 1995, the airport's name was changed from Kraków–Balice Airport to John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice, to honor Pope John Paul II, who spent many years of his life in Kraków and had served as Archbishop of Kraków from 1963 until his elevation to the Papacy in 1978. 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. In 2003, when Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair became interested in starting a service from the John Paul II International Airport, the airport authorities refused to reduce the landing fees. 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 Ryanair and other low-cost carriers such as Germanwings, EasyJet, and Centralwings. 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