Airport Experience News Fall 2022

LATEST BUZZ

KANSAS CITY RISING Final Touches Are Being Put On The Airport’s New Terminal Building, Slated To Open In March

BY C AROL WARD

he new terminal at Kansas City International Airport ( MCI) is coming to fruition, and it’s been

built on a greenfield site adjacent to the existing terminals, has been in the works formally since 2017 and was envisioned many years before. As early as 1995 and again in 2009, MCI master plans recommended a single terminal. “This is a generational opportunity for us to solve something that worked really great for a very short period of time,” says Justin Meyer, deputy director of aviation – marketing and air service development, Kansas City Aviation Department. Of course, in regards to the new facility currently under construction, the planners

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Above: A new, 39-gate terminal at Kansas City International Airport is expected to open on time next March, and on budget at a cost of about $1.5 billion.

a long time coming. The new structure that replaces three horseshoe-shaped terminals is scheduled for completion in March 2023, on time and on budget at about $1.5 billion. The three terminal configuration was considered to be at the forefront of modern aviation when it was built in 1972, but changing security protocols in subsequent years resulted in an unwieldy configuration for modern-day travel. The new terminal,

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