Nonstop flight route between Kraków / Balice, Poland and Beijing, People's Republic of China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice (KRK), Kraków / Balice, Poland and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), Beijing, People's Republic of China would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,434 miles (or 7,136 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice and Beijing Capital International Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice and Beijing Capital International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice (KRK):

• Because of John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice's relatively low elevation of 791 feet, planes can take off or land at John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• The closest airport to John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice (KRK) is Katowice International Airport (KTW), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) NW of KRK.
• John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice (KRK) has 2 runways.
• John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice is an international airport located near Kraków, in the village of Balice, 11 km west of the city centre, in southern Poland.
• Kraków Airport is the second busiest airport in the country after Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport.
• 11 April 2013 saw the beginning of construction works of a new airport terminal, which would be adjacent to the existing old terminal building.
• The airport opened for civil aviation in 1964.
• On 12 December 2012, Irish low cost carrier Ryanair announced they would be opening their 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.
• 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.
• The furthest airport from John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice (KRK) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,559 miles (18,603 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice", another name for KRK is "Międzynarodowy Port Lotniczy im. Jana Pawła II Kraków–Balice".

Facts about Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK):

• The furthest airport from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport (VDM), which is nearly antipodal to Beijing Capital International Airport (meaning Beijing Capital International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport), and is located 12,378 miles (19,920 kilometers) away in Viedma, Argentina.
• A 98.3 m monitoring tower stands at the southern end of T3, the highest building at the airport.
• The closest airport to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is Beijing Nanyuan Airport (NAY), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) SSW of PEK.
• Beijing Capital International Airport is the main hub for Air China, the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China, which flies to around 120 destinations from Beijing.
• Terminal 3 has a 300,000 m2 transportation centre with 7,000 car-parking space.
• Terminal 3 has 243 elevators, escalators or moving walkways.
• Beijing Capital International Airport handled 83,712,355 passengers last year.
• With the opening of Terminal 3, the terminal was closed for light refurbishment, and its airlines were moved to Terminal 2 on 20 May 2008.
• Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) has 3 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Beijing Capital International Airport", other names for PEK include "北京首都国际机场" and "Běijīng Shǒudū Guójì Jīchǎng".
• One of Terminal 3's highlights is the US$240 million luggage-transfer system.
• An indoor garden is constructed in the T3E waiting area, in the style of imperial gardens such as the Summer Palace.
• Because of Beijing Capital International Airport's relatively low elevation of 116 feet, planes can take off or land at Beijing Capital International Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.