Build it and they will come.
“When you have a nonstop flight not only is it a more efficient use of your time, but there's a higher level of reliability,” said Justin Meyer, the deputy director of aviation with Kansas City International Airport.
That's the approach Justin Meyer is taking when it comes to luring a direct, non-stop flight from Kansas City to Europe.
If @KCIAirport gets a direct, non-stop route to Europe, where should the flight go?
— The Now KC (@TheNowKC) November 21, 2016
“If there was a nonstop flight from Kansas City that went to a destination in Europe, not only would we capture the passengers that are currently flying from Kansas City International Airport, but we would also capture the passengers that are making connections from Omaha, Des Moines, Wichita, Springfield, those kinds of markets,” said Meyer. “When you start thinking about the regional capture that could happen it's one of the things that makes us intriguing to the airline partners that we are talking to.”
“If there is a nonstop flight people want to go to that city because it is nonstop,” said Mark Ebbitts with Shelton Travel Service. The Plaza travel agency regularly helps people book trips to Europe.
Right now about 300 passengers a day start their travel in KC and use cities like Chicago, New York or Houston as a gateway to Europe, which travel experts say shows there is enough interest to start a direct, non-stop route to say London or Paris.
“I think it would be very beneficial,” said Ebbits. “We would get people from surrounding communities, especially Omaha and Wichita that right now have to go through Dallas or different cities to go over to Europe, they could just drive down to Kansas City, park at the airport, and go straight on out.”
But that scenario is at least a year and a half out. In the meantime, KCI is working on its international and customs terminal to make it work better for the direct non-stops to Mexico it already has.
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Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.
