Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny Airport is a disused airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

  in Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, one of the oldest permanent airfields in Europe, open for occasional traffic by certain types of aircraft. A portion of it is now the site of the Polish Aviation Museum

Polish Aviation Museum

Polish Aviation Museum is a large museum of old aircraft and aircraft engines in Kraków, Poland. It is located at the site of the no-longer functional Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny Airport. This airfield, established by Austria-Hungary in 1912, is one of the oldest in the world...

 with a 720-metre long and 60-metre wide segment of the original concrete runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

 restored for use by the museum for light planes (to 7,500 kg) and helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

s.

History

The airfield has its beginnings as a military airport established in the borough of Rakowice

Rakowice, Kraków

Rakowice, formerly a village – is an urban area in ​​Kraków, Poland, part of both: District III Prądnik Czerwony and District XIV Czyżyny. Currently, the neighborhood is heavily urbanized, with a small amount of parks. The predominant structures are apartment buildings and detached houses...

 in 1912, one of the most modern and largest in Poland

Austrian partition

The Austrian partition refers to the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired by the Austrian Empire during the partitions of Poland in late 18th century.-History:...

 at the time. It was built for the needs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire along with an army garrison. In 1917 the airfield became one of the stopovers in the first European air mail service linking Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 with Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 and Odessa

Odessa

Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...

. The airport was in continuous use to 1963, until the relocation of the Kraków passenger airport

John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice

-Traffic:Figures in MillionsThe busiest international routes are to London and Dublin.-Getting there:In addition to road access by private car or taxi, other options are:-By train:...

 16 km westwards, to the village of Balice

Balice, Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Balice is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Zabierzów, within Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south of Zabierzów and west of the regional capital Kraków....

. The expansion of nearby Nowa Huta

Nowa Huta

Nowa Huta - is the easternmost district of Kraków, Poland, . With more than 200,000 inhabitants it is one of the most populous areas of the city.- History :...

 district of Kraków forced its closure.

In June 2004, a portion of the airport contiguous with the Polish Aviation Museum

Polish Aviation Museum

Polish Aviation Museum is a large museum of old aircraft and aircraft engines in Kraków, Poland. It is located at the site of the no-longer functional Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny Airport. This airfield, established by Austria-Hungary in 1912, is one of the oldest in the world...

was reopened as a police helicopter base and for an occasional fixed-wing aircraft traffic on runway 26 for an annual two-day air show held on the last weekend of June. The museum is also likely to use this airfield for flying some of its collection or acquiring new exhibits.