KCI’s new terminal had a busy first year with 11.5M passengers. Did it set a record?
Kansas City International had a busy year as a near-record number of travelers passed through the gates at the airport, according to the year-end passenger traffic numbers.
For the year, more than 11.5 million passengers flew into and out of the airport, which has the code MCI. That was an increase of 17.7% over 2022’s passenger volume of 9.8 million, according to the Kansas City Aviation Department.
The surge in new passengers came as KCI switched from two old terminals to its new $1.5 billion single terminal, which opened on Feb. 28.
The record passenger volume is 11.9 million set in 2000. Since then yearly annual volume has fluctuated, including dipping to just under 4.5 million in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.
“Oscillations are related to MCI’s status as an airline hub (TWA, Braniff, Vanguard, Midwest) as well as national economic trends,” said Justin Meyer, deputy director of aviation marketing and air services development for the aviation department.
Passenger boardings were up 18.1%, with just under 5.8 million travelers boarding last year.
The airlines with the largest market share for the year included Southwest, with 47.9%, Delta at 17.2%, American at 16% and United at 10.6%.
During December, 923,034 passengers arrived and departed from the airport, up 16.3% for the same month a year ago. Passenger boardings were up 18.9%, with a total of 465,735 boarded.
The number of peak-day scheduled aircraft departures for December was 149, with nonstop service offered to 47 markets. There was an average of 41,723 arriving and departing scheduled seats each day.
Air cargo tonnages, which includes both freight and mail transported by air, was down 9% for all carriers in December. A total of 22.4 million pounds was handled. For 2023, 237.6 million pounds of air cargo was handled, down 8.5% from the previous year.
The all-cargo carriers reported 10 daily departures for December.
