An Airbus A220 is taxied as JetBlue’s inaugural flight from Kansas City Global Airport to New York’s John F. Kennedy Global Airport ready to depart Sunday morning, March 27, 2022.
Among airports in the United States that provide 2 to 3 million persons, Kansas Town Intercontinental Airport is the third-premier market that does not offer you transatlantic flights. The airport is at the rear of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Indianapolis Worldwide Airport, in accordance to KCI marketing and air company director Justin Meyer.
With the 2026 FIFA Planet Cup on the way in four quick decades, will Kansas Town go worldwide?
For now, the airport only delivers flights to fellow Entire world Cup internet hosting nations Canada and Mexico, but Meyer mentioned officers hope to incorporate additional worldwide flights and nonstop flights within the country in advance of the game titles start out.
Support to and from KCI has increased as COVID-19 journey constraints have loosened, but the quantity and frequency of out there flights aren’t again to pre-pandemic amounts but. Prior to 2026 rolls about, Meyer said airport management is doing work to get the two services and ridership back again to the peak levels of summer time 2019.
WHAT DID KCI Glance LIKE Prior to THE PANDEMIC?
For the duration of the summertime of 2019, more than 600 travellers departed from KCI for transatlantic places every day. Back then, Icelandair took individuals specifically to Iceland, and travellers would hop on connecting flights to the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany and Eire.
Meyer said these quantities are significant and served get the focus of worldwide operators that are considering Kansas Town for international company.
In the summer months of 2019, KCI served 664,674 passengers across 4,999 nonstop flights.
For the duration of the exact same timespan in the summer season of 2022, KCI ridership is down by far more than 100,000 from pre-pandemic levels, with about a thousand much less flights, with 540,141 travellers across 3,984 nonstop flights.
The airport shed nonstop flights to Cincinnati, Orlando, Punta Gorda, San Francisco, Albuquerque, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and San Antonio concerning the summer season of 2019 and now.
WHAT NONSTOP FLIGHTS HAVE BEEN Added TO KCI?
Due to the fact 2022, KCI has additional the adhering to nonstop flights:
Meyer reported Southwest is hunting to restore its nonstop flight to Raleigh-Durham from KCI in November, but it has not been confirmed nevertheless.
Expert services to Albuquerque, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and San Antonio have not been additional back however because May possibly 2020, but KCI is hunting to get these nonstop flights up and functioning in the foreseeable future.
HOW Lengthy Until finally KCI Adds NONSTOP TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHTS?
Meyer stated that he and Patrick Klein, the director of aviation at KCI, are assembly deal with-to-face with several European operators in the following two weeks with the objective of receiving Kansas City into place to host a immediate flight to Europe.
They have been in talks with various European airways about possible intercontinental flights to add, he stated.
“Whenever an airline is prepared to start in Kansas Metropolis, we’re completely ready for them,” Meyer explained.
He reported that the likelihood of incorporating transatlantic flights also depends on things like business enterprise vacation returning to pre-pandemic figures and the world’s capacity to continue on controlling COVID-19 and restricting its distribute.
IS THE Earth CUP A Factor?
Although the Environment Cup in Kansas Metropolis is 4 yrs absent, and no one is aware what groups will qualify for the match, the worldwide occasion surely puts a spotlight on the want for much more flights.
Meyer reported he expects airlines to insert some flights from whichever countries’ teams participate in in Kansas Metropolis. For case in point, if Germany has a activity at Arrowhead, he thinks a German-centered carrier will put in a couple flights to let lovers to have entry to the market place.
“We’re completely ready to hard cash in on the gain of the intercontinental highlight as quickly as attainable,” Meyer mentioned.
