KSHB 41 reporter Megan Abundis covers Kansas City, Missouri, including neighborhoods in the southern part of the city. Share your story idea with Megan.
Kansas City, Missouri, leaders say the work to add a transatlantic flight from the Kansas City International Airport is ongoing.
In 2018, KCMO had a partnership with Iceland Air; However, passenger numbers slowed and that flight was eventually grounded.
KCMO's top leaders say adding back a transatlantic flight is a priority.
Justin Meyer, the deputy director of the Aviation Department at the Kansas City International Aviation, says 350 passengers fly from KCI to Europe each day.
None of those flights are direct, yet.
KSHB 41's Megan Abundis heard from passengers at KCI on Tuesday to find out where they want to travel to.
"I'd love to see any nonstops to any Europe location; it seems like we are always connecting for travel overseas," Hunter Brandt said. "It’s just a pain to have to connect in a larger airport — give us more options to travel and see the world more."
"I want to go to Ireland, Spain, Greece," said Melanie Stob, another KCI passenger.
"Where I want to go is probably Japan," said Devonte Brown, another passenger. "Myself, I’ve been here my entire life; I would travel more if we could do a nonstop flight."
An international flight partner is still in the works.
"The city is always doing work to add more flight options," KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas said.
Meyer said he's continued conversations with European carriers in recent months.
"In the last six months, I've probably spoken with six European-based carriers," he said.
Meyer says without a transatlantic flight, Kansas Citians are missing out on some of world's most important markets.
He also made note that the new terminal didn’t create demand of international travelers.
"The biggest challenge for us is a local support package," Meyer said.
This support meaning dollars, coming from people who aren't a part of the KCMO city government.
In order to get a deal done, risk mitigation must come from community stakeholders, like private entities.
KCI and KCMO can help with fee waivers and marketing support.
Other cities like Cleveland and Indianapolis recently landed international flights with tens of millions of dollars in help from economic development agencies.
Meyer said KCMO is trying to do that through a bi-state effort, because a majority of the passengers are Kansans, but a deal hasn’t come together.
"I think the state of Missouri investing before is helpful — we'd love to see a similar investment from the state of Kansas that would get us to $10 million total," Lucas said. "There is still a Missouri state incentive supporting transatlantic travel, and further afield travel, we will continue to do that work."
Meyer and Lucas both question how much money invested could be too much.
"When does it become economically unwise to do so?" Meyer said. "Once you’re getting to the level of $19 million a year, that seems tough to me, particularly if you are not necessarily flying to an economic financial capital like a London."
Lucas also said he isn’t making presumptions that there should be money invested.
"I don’t presume we need to invest money into a deal actually, I mean, right? If things are going well, people will just want to fly here," he said.
Meyer said a potential leverage point could be World Cup 2026, seeing who comes could be a good measure, a reflection of the economics of the state, the city, the desires of people to fly.
"We will continue to do work that there’s many routes as possible but we will do so fiscally responsible,” said Mayor Quinton Lucas.
Lucas said their long-term strategy is building up flights to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Canada, with a flight to Puerto Vallarta beginning in January 2025.
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