Kraków Airport Receives Environmental Decision for New Runway After Years of Disputes

The Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Kielce has issued a decision on environmental conditions for the construction of a new runway at Kraków-Balice Airport. This is a key document that airport authorities have been waiting for many years. The current runway is in poor technical condition, and its renovation without building a new one would require temporarily closing the airport. The new route is planned to run at an angle to the current one, which has sparked numerous protests from local residents fearing increased noise. The issued decision paves the way for further design stages and obtaining a building permit, although experts emphasize this is only the beginning of the next phase of the investment. environmental decision forms the foundation for the airport's modernization, which served a record number of passengers last year. Parallel to the infrastructure news, Polish border and customs services report increased activity in combating cross-border crime. Customs and Tax Service officers thwarted the smuggling of 11 million cigarettes with a market value of nearly 20 million zloty. The goods were hidden in a container that, according to documentation, was supposed to contain valves. Simultaneously, the Border Guard reported successes in the fight against illegal migration. In the Bieszczady Mountains and on the border with Lithuania, individuals involved in transporting citizens of African countries were detained. Among those detained were, among others, citizens of Ukraine, who face up to 8 years in prison for organizing illegal border crossings. Balice Airport, opened for civilian purposes in 1964 on the basis of a military airfield, is currently the second busiest passenger airport in Poland. Plans to build a new runway date back to the previous decade, but earlier decisions were overturned by administrative courts due to procedural reasons.The situation at the borders indicates new methods of operation by criminal groups, including the use of balloons to transport tobacco contraband on the eastern section of the border. contraband by balloon is becoming an increasingly serious challenge for the Border Guard in the Lublin Voivodeship, where such incidents are recorded on average every other day. The Ministry of Internal Affairs also addressed the issue of surveillance systems, explaining errors in sensor instructions, which is crucial for the security of border infrastructure. „To jest wielki dzień dla Małopolski i Krakowa. Decyzja środowiskowa pozwala nam realnie myśleć o przyszłości lotniska.” (This is a great day for Lesser Poland and Krakow. The environmental decision allows us to realistically think about the airport's future.) — Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz