Polish Aviation Museum

Wide collection of aeroplanes, helicopters, plane engines, pre-war planes made in Poland. Also included are exhibits on the development of world aviation technology.Year 2010 sees a centenary of aviation in Kraków and Małopolska, and the museum has been finalising the “Creating an Aircraft Cultural Park” project, initiated a few years ago. September saw the opening of the museum’s new building, constructed from glass, steel and concrete, shaped like a rotating propeller when viewed from above.

The Rakowice-Czyżyny airport was established in 1912 in Kraków, a part of the Austrian partition at the time. It was Poland’s second largest airport during the interwar period, but following World War II the rapid development of the surrounding areas meant it gradually lost in importance, finally reaching decommission during the 1960s. Today, after nearly a century, it is undergoing a major revival.

A small museum was created soon after the airport’s closure. A project to reclaim parts of the old airport for open-air exhibitions and air shows was launched in 1989. In 2003, after a long break, aircraft landed here again as part of the Polish Aviation Museum’s 40th anniversary. This became an inspiration to organise the Małopolska Air Show the following year, which has been drawing crowds of aerobatics fans ever since.

Year 2010 sees a centenary of aviation in Kraków and Małopolska, and the museum finalised the “Creating an Aircraft Cultural Park” project, initiated a few years ago. September 2010 saw the opening of the museum’s new building, constructed from glass, steel and concrete, shaped like a rotating propeller when viewed from above. The building includes an exhibition room with an area of over 1000 m.sq. and a large lecture hall equipped with interactive information booths, aircraft seats and a flight simulator. The museum is also gaining a multi-purpose hall, a cinema, and an internet cafe. The modern interiors will host permanent and temporary exhibitions, popular and specialist educational programmes, film screenings, and cultural and corporate events. 21 aircraft will go on display in the building, including Blériot XI (one of the first French aeroplanes, constructed in 1909), RWD 13 (one of the last two preserved specimens of this Polish interwar plane), and TS-8 Bies (regarded as the first modern aircraft constructed in Poland after World War II).

Information on temporary exhibitions: