"KCI experiences upward trend after hard times"

Friday, December 24, 2004

KCI experiences upward trend after hard times
By MIKE RICE
The Kansas City (MO) Star


Kansas City International Airport is gaining a stronger foothold in its
recovery from the 2001 terrorist attacks and the demise of Vanguard
Airlines, according to the latest passenger data.

In October, 840,803 travelers arrived at or departed from the airport, a 2.6
percent increase over the same month in 2003.

Those figures mark the eighth consecutive month passenger traffic has been
on the increase, compared with the same month the previous year. And since
September 2003, the monthly numbers have dipped only twice.

That upward trend has come after the numbers were down for 24 straight
months - between September 2001 and August of last year.

"Things are getting better," said Tom McKenna, the airport's marketing
director. "The economy is improving, and it has been more than three years
since any major aviation incident, so whoever wishes to travel is
traveling."

Airports compare passenger traffic numbers with the same period of the
previous year because of seasonal differences in air fares and travel.
Month-to-month comparisons are less useful in gauging passenger traffic.

McKenna said he expected the airport's total passenger traffic for 2004 to
exceed last year's by 4 percent to 5 percent. That would mark the first time
since 2000 that annual passenger traffic would be above that of the previous
year.

In 2000, 11.9 million passengers passed through the gates at KCI, a record
for the 32-year-old airport. The record was on pace to be broken in 2001,
but then came the terrorist attacks. The economy worsened, and the numbers
plunged.

Making matters worse was that Vanguard Airlines, the second-largest carrier
at KCI, shut down after declaring bankruptcy in 2002.

McKenna said the recent passenger numbers had been buoyed by new flights to
Indianapolis and Cancun, Mexico, and by restored service to cities such as
Fort Lauderdale, Fla., New Orleans and San Francisco. The airport had an
average of 214 daily flights in October.


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