KSHB 41 anchor/reporter Daniela Leon covers transportation-related issues in Kansas City. Share your story idea with Daniela.
Kansas City International Airport is set to serve as the city's first hello and impression to the world as thousands of fans arrive for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Since the brand new single terminal opened in 2023, millions of passengers have used the airport.
KSHB 41's Daniela Leon reports on transportation-related topics in Kansas City, and found that KCI flyers are confident the airport is ready for the spotlight.
"It’s not a huge airport," Kansas City, Missouri, resident Andrew Vallejo says. "People get to go where they are going, have easy access, there's lots of directions, and we have show people where to go."
KCI staff have been coordinating with stakeholders, including security partners and airlines, to ensure the terminal is ready to welcome die-hard soccer fans from across the globe.
"Everyone here in this building is planning to staff up," Justin Meyer, deputy director of aviation at KCI, said. "We have plenty of capacity in terms of runways, gates and in terms of throughput."
Meyer says the arrival of international passengers is on track as the World Cup approaches.
KC2026, the nonprofit organization leading planning and strategy for Kansas City's World Cup hosting duties, estimates around 650,000 people will come to the region for the tournament.
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Meyer says security partners are preparing to handle traveler safety and support the arrival and departure of World Cup VIPs.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has also established a staffing plan to handle the influx.
"Our international arrivals throughput is probably among the fastest in the United States," Meyer said. "We've got a great relationship with our CBP office here in Kansas City, and are really proud of the work that they've done to prepare."
KSHB 41's Elyse Shoenig and Daniela Leon went into detail Friday about Daniela's story about how Kansas City International Airport is preparing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Watch their conversation in the video player below.
The FIFA 2026 World Cup is poised to be the largest event Kansas City has hosted to date - bigger than the 2023 NFL Draft.
The single terminal opened less than two months before welcoming fans in the 2023 NFL Draft. Meyer says the draft set a blueprint on how to handle a high volume of departures and arrivals, and which parts of the airport saw increased traffic.
"We think that the NFL Draft was a pretty good training platform for us, especially as the demographic of the travelers changed in that the primary meet and greet family pickup lines became less busy on the arrivals curb, but the commercial curb with limousines, Ubers and Lyfts became much more busy," Meyer said. "I think that we've got some options to help grow that and make sure that that operates as efficiently as possible."
Johnson County, Kansas, Transit leased 50 buses and bought 10 buses for World Cup services.
The buses will be used to operate a new route that will run from KCI to Johnson County, every 20 minutes through Interstate 435 and pick up travelers near the Overland Park Convention Center and Lenexa City Center, with no other stops.
Kansas City already knows which games it will host next summer. They'll find out which teams are coming to play in those matches when FIFA holds its World Cup draw on Dec. 5.
Airport officials say knowing which teams are slated to play in Kansas City - or use the region as their base camp - will help further tailor the experience at the airport.
"We think there's probably some fun opportunities from some activations that we'll be rolling out in the next few months," Meyer said.
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