A burst of Arctic weather crippled southern Poland over the weekend, forcing Kraków John Paul II International Airport to close for a second consecutive day and triggering a cascade of disruptions for holiday travellers. UK leisure carrier Jet2 told passengers on flights LS949 (Manchester–Kraków), LS1901 (Newcastle–Kraków) and LS113 (Glasgow–Kraków) that their aircraft would night-stop and instead route to Warsaw Chopin Airport on Sunday, 21 December. Customers already in Kraków were bussed 295 km north for their return journeys, while outbound travellers were offered hotel rooms or free rebooking.
Although the disruption is classified as “extraordinary circumstances” under EU261—meaning compensation is not payable—Jet2 stressed that duty-of-care obligations still apply. Business travellers heading to year-end project meetings in Kraków’s fast-growing technology cluster have been advised to allow extra time for security screening in Warsaw, where capacity is stretched by a surge in Christmas demand.
The closure exposed the fragility of point-to-point airline networks at secondary hubs. Kraków handles more than nine million passengers a year, many of them high-value city-break visitors from the UK, Germany and Scandinavia. By diverting to Warsaw, Jet2 avoided stranding aircraft but created knock-on effects for slot-restricted UK airports, where late-arrival curfews loom. Travel managers are updating contingency plans that factor in weather-related closures at regional airports and highlight the need for real-time monitoring tools.
![Heavy snow closes Kraków airport, Jet2 diverts three UK flights to Warsaw]()
At times like these, travellers can lean on specialised visa and travel-document services such as VisaHQ. Through its dedicated Poland page (https://www.visahq.com/poland/), the company provides real-time visa requirement checks, rush processing and personalised support—tools that prove invaluable when sudden rerouting forces passengers to transit via unexpected airports and confront unfamiliar border rules.
Polish airport operator PPL said snow-clearing teams worked around the clock but could not keep runways free of ice as temperatures plunged to –12 °C. Meteorologists forecast further squalls through Monday, raising the prospect of continued diversions. Airlines have been urged to coordinate with ground-handling partners in Warsaw, whose stands and baggage halls are already operating near peak capacity.
For corporate mobility planners, the episode underscores the importance of flexible tickets, robust travel insurance and advance visa screening when itineraries suddenly involve an unexpected third country. Jet2’s rerouting via Warsaw means UK passengers avoid Schengen internal border formalities, but those forced to connect beyond Poland may need to satisfy different entry rules at short notice.
Although the disruption is classified as “extraordinary circumstances” under EU261—meaning compensation is not payable—Jet2 stressed that duty-of-care obligations still apply. Business travellers heading to year-end project meetings in Kraków’s fast-growing technology cluster have been advised to allow extra time for security screening in Warsaw, where capacity is stretched by a surge in Christmas demand.
The closure exposed the fragility of point-to-point airline networks at secondary hubs. Kraków handles more than nine million passengers a year, many of them high-value city-break visitors from the UK, Germany and Scandinavia. By diverting to Warsaw, Jet2 avoided stranding aircraft but created knock-on effects for slot-restricted UK airports, where late-arrival curfews loom. Travel managers are updating contingency plans that factor in weather-related closures at regional airports and highlight the need for real-time monitoring tools.
At times like these, travellers can lean on specialised visa and travel-document services such as VisaHQ. Through its dedicated Poland page (https://www.visahq.com/poland/), the company provides real-time visa requirement checks, rush processing and personalised support—tools that prove invaluable when sudden rerouting forces passengers to transit via unexpected airports and confront unfamiliar border rules.
Polish airport operator PPL said snow-clearing teams worked around the clock but could not keep runways free of ice as temperatures plunged to –12 °C. Meteorologists forecast further squalls through Monday, raising the prospect of continued diversions. Airlines have been urged to coordinate with ground-handling partners in Warsaw, whose stands and baggage halls are already operating near peak capacity.
For corporate mobility planners, the episode underscores the importance of flexible tickets, robust travel insurance and advance visa screening when itineraries suddenly involve an unexpected third country. Jet2’s rerouting via Warsaw means UK passengers avoid Schengen internal border formalities, but those forced to connect beyond Poland may need to satisfy different entry rules at short notice.
