When hundreds of thousands of people from around the world touch down in Kansas City International Airport this June for the FIFA World Cup, it could be their very first time in the United States.
And it will most likely be their first time in Kansas City, Missouri.
Airport staff are very aware of this and are working around the clock to ensure visitors’ first impression of Kansas City is a good one, said Jackson Overstreet, public information officer of the aviation department.
“We definitely know that this is a once-in-a-generation chance for our airport to meet these people, to welcome these people into Kansas City,” Overstreet said. “We want to take a hold of that.”
Overstreet expects June and July will be KCI’s busiest months on record — and they’re preparing to meet that moment in a number of ways.
One way is by translating airport signs into the languages commonly spoken by the seven teams that will play group stage matches in Kansas City, including German, Dutch, Arabic and Spanish.
“It is our intent to make the airport as accessible as possible,” Overstreet said. “And we know many of our guests who will be flying through, English may not be their first language.”
It is not yet clear when those translated signs will be up.
KCI is working with KC2026, Kansas City’s World Cup organizing committee, on their direct bus routes going into downtown to ensure the journey from the airport to the city goes smoothly for visitors.
Their preparation process also includes testing their systems to identify what works well with increased volume and traffic and what might need any repairs. Overstreet said Vanderlande, KCI’s baggage handling contractor, conducted stress tests of its system in February to see how it would handle an increased amount of baggage.
“We’re operationally looking at a lot of things to ensure travel is fairly smooth,” Overstreet said. “Every division here is working and speaking and trying to figure out what would be going on during this amount of increased travelers.”
In the next few weeks, people can expect to see more FIFA- and World Cup-related merchandise pop up in the airport. Overstreet said he wants Kansas City locals to join in on the fun as well, despite all the focus on travelers.
“We want people to start building that excitement now, because we know the games will be here and then they’ll be gone,” Overstreet said. “It’ll be quick and it’ll be fun and it’ll be busy, but we want to make sure that everyone knows that it’s the airport for everyone, not just our visitors from outside the U.S.”
