Best of KC 2023: Our direly needed new airport makes flight delays much easier to stomach
Concourse B of the new KCI terminal features Kansas City restaurants including Pigwich and Taste of Brazil, located in a shopping node decorated to look like KC’s City Market. (Chase Castor/The Beacon)
This month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some of our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2023. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November.
Last February, the long-anticipated new airport terminal finally opened. In sharp contrast to the dark and crowded horseshoe terminals of the old airport, the new terminal has larger waiting areas around each of the 39 gates, along with open hallways, all-glass jet bridges, and a sky bridge with two moving walkways connecting the two concourses.
Another issue with the old airport was the lack of restroom facilities, which the new airport rectifies with family restrooms, multi-user restrooms, gendered restrooms, service animal relief areas, and water bottle stations. There are 10 rooms for nursing mothers and infants as well.
The new terminal features 50 places to eat and shop, with many of these being local businesses. This includes a miniature City Market at the center of the airport that includes Pigwich, Buffalo State Pizza, Taste of Brazil, and Bo Ling’s. We also love the addition of a Pitch convenience store. Notably, a large majority of these are inside the security checkpoint, so no need to worry about having to ditch purchased food or drink items.
One of the most controversial aspects of the new airport, which has drawn a torrent of complaints on social media platforms, is the new pick-up/drop-off area. Previously, it had been easy for people to simply pull up their cars and wait for the person they were picking up. Now, there are separate levels for arriving and departing flights, and these areas are smaller by comparison when considering that they serve the entire airport. People who are picking up passengers have been advised to park and wait in the cell phone lot, which is roughly a three-minute drive from the airport, where parking is free for an hour. The pick-up/drop-off areas continue to be congested and have long wait times, but are slowly improving as people get the hang of it.
Aside from a few kinks, the new airport is a major improvement. New flights have already been added since the terminal opened, with more to come. It will much better serve KC and accommodate its growth—especially the large influx of visitors for the World Cup in 2026—and now provides a much better first impression of our city to first-time visitors.
