Accident at Krakow Airport: After an aircraft overruns the runway in heavy rain, operations are suspended at Kraków Airport

 Following a runway excursion involving an AirExplore-operated aircraft earlier today, operations at Kraków John Paul II International Airport (KRK) have been halted until at least the evening.

Shortly after 2:00 p.m. local time, the Boeing 737-800, which was flying flight E47030 for Enter Air, a Polish charter airline, landed in bad weather and crashed off the end of Runway 25.

Initial reports stated that the flight was returning vacationers to Poland from Antalya, Turkey. Upon landing in Kraków under heavy rainfall, the aircraft failed to come to a complete stop on the paved surface and overran the runway.

The aircraft, registered under the registration number OM-FEX, landed in a grassy, unpaved area next to the runway. Although emergency personnel were sent out right away, thankfully, none of the passengers or staff were hurt when they departed.

Enter Air announced that future flights on the Antalya–Kraków route will continue to use aircraft from Enter Air's own fleet, even though the incident involved an aircraft leased from the Slovak charter business AirExplore. The business conveyed thankfulness that no one on board was harmed in the event and underlined that passenger safety continues to be its top concern.

Since then, Kraków Airport authorities have halted all flight operations; according to Eurocontrol, arrivals and departures will not be possible until at least 20:00 UTC.

Investigators can evaluate the aircraft's position, do runway safety checks, and start the process of identifying the incident's cause while the aircraft is suspended. Although officials have not ruled out other contributing factors such runway surface conditions, braking performance, or pilot decision-making, they believe that heavy rains at the time of landing played a significant effect.

Flight schedules have been severely disrupted by the temporary closure. Outbound flights have been canceled or delayed, and several incoming planes have been rerouted to other airports, including as Katowice and Warsaw. The timing for the airport's reopening may be impacted by recovery efforts and any follow-up investigations, so travelers are encouraged to check with their airlines for the most recent travel information.

In a statement, a Kraków Airport representative assured the public that airport safety is still the first priority:

“While this event has inevitably caused interruption to travel, the most important conclusion is that all passengers and crew are safe. We are working together with investigators and aviation authorities to ascertain the cause of the runway excursion.

Despite being quite uncommon, runway excursions rank among the most frequent landing-related events globally. According to aviation experts, pilots frequently face substantial difficulties when landing on wet or dirty runways due to poor braking conditions, decreased visibility, and other factors.