Due to the end of its operational life, the KRW ILS/DME system needs to be replaced with new equipment. The investment will be implemented by the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency in consultation and close cooperation with Kraków-Balice International Airport. The new ILS/DME system is scheduled to go live on October 1st of this year.
PANSA announced the timeline for the planned investment for the first time in January this year. The necessary information procedures addressed to airspace users have already been launched (TRIGGER NOTAM A0565/2026 N and publication of the Supplement in AIP Polska) related to the planned commencement of the necessary works.
The investment, which involves replacing the 23-year-old ILS/DME “KRW” system at Krakow Airport, will begin on May 4th of this year, as planned and previously assumed. At that time, the existing system will be suspended. As a result, precision landing approaches using the ILS/DME system will be temporarily impossible. This may result in limited airport accessibility in low visibility conditions. However, such situations are extremely rare during the summer season. During the work, PBN approach procedures will be available, utilizing the GNSS sensor (i.e., satellite navigation) to LPV200 minimums (comparable to ILS/DME CAT I procedures), as well as LNAV/VNAV, and landing approach procedures based on the DVOR/DME “KAK” system.
The new device is scheduled for operational deployment, also in line with previous assumptions, on October 1st of this year, after a record-breaking replacement period (typically, replacement takes about seven months). It will be used as before in CAT I.
Following the change in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regulations regarding required navigation lighting for CAT II, which took place at the end of last year, Kraków-Balice Airport has decided to begin efforts to certify the airport for CAT II, which could take place in the first quarter of 2027.
