Memorial Day travel will mean the busiest weekend at KCI airport in years
The post-pandemic travel bug seems to have bitten many people in the Kansas City area, as passengers flock to the airport for Memorial Day and the start of the summer travel season.
In the days leading up to the holiday weekend, Kansas City International Airport is expected to be the busiest it’s been since before the COVID-19 pandemic, an airport official said.
“We’re expecting to see 20,000 daily outbound passengers from MCI today, tomorrow and Friday,” said Justin Meyer, deputy director with the Kansas City Aviation Department, in a statement Wednesday. The peak travel days this week are expected to be Thursday and Friday.
On Tuesday, 19,864 passengers were screened, making it the busiest Tuesday since the Tuesday before Memorial Day weekend in 2019.
The number of arriving passengers is expected to hit a similar high, which means a total of around 40,000 passengers are expected to pass through KCI daily for the next few days.
That has increased demand for parking at the parking garage across from the new terminal. As of Wednesday, the new 6,200 space parking garage was 82% full. Travelers can check on parking availability by going to flykc.com. Parking is available at the surface lot and the economy lots.
Meyer encouraged passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline before heading to the airport.
The strong travel demand is being felt elsewhere as well.
The Transportation Security Administration said on Monday that it’s expecting to screen high volumes of passengers this weekend and throughout the summer travel season. The agency is forecasting Friday to be the busiest day of the long weekend, projecting to screen approximately 2.6 million passengers, according to a news release.
Because of the high volume of travelers this weekend across the nation and at KCI, Meyer encouraged travelers to review what they’re allowed to carry-on or pack on a flight.
Drivers picking up arriving passengers are also encouraged to use the cell phone lot at 860 Brasilia Avenue and wait until their guests have exited the terminal before heading to the terminal to pick them up. Drivers waiting at the arrivals curb have created problems that have led to long back-ups and delays while picking up passengers at peak times since the new terminal opened in late February.
Also this weekend, Sun Country Airlines, which is new to KCI, will launch nonstop service between Kansas City and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
