KANSAS CITY, MO. — The new 40-gate terminal at Kansas City International Airport has opened for commercial air service. At just over 1 million square feet and a budget of $1.5 billion, the terminal marks the largest single infrastructure project in the city’s history, according to the airport.
The new terminal features spacious gate areas, nearly 50 local and national food and beverage concepts, and shopping experiences. Two moving walkways expedite transfers between the two concourses.
Consolidated and flexible security checkpoints with 16 lanes were designed to accommodate the ebb and flow of passenger volume. A new 6,200-space garage is adjacent to the terminal with covered parking.
The new terminal replaces the previous three-terminal format at the airport. Terminal A was razed to make way for construction of the new terminal and garage. Terminals B and C remained in operation, but they officially close with the opening of the new terminal. The two old terminals will be razed.
The Terminal B garage will remain open and serve as employee parking, and the Terminal C garage will be used for public parking in the future.
Led by developer Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate and its design-build partner Clark | Weitz | Clarkson, the project generated up to 6,000 construction-related jobs. More than 240 Kansas City-area firms worked on the project with roughly 130 minority- and women-owned business partners. Funding came from 100 percent tax-exempt debt.
Henderson Engineers, the lead engineer on the project, designed an all-electric power system for airport operations. Compared with a traditional mixed fuel system that uses natural gas, oil or coal, the all-electric system is expected to avoid 92 percent of operational carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. Utility firm Evergy provided electric utility infrastructure improvements.
The Kansas City Aviation Department owns and operates the airport, which first opened in 1972. Design and construction efforts on the new terminal began in 2018 and the groundbreaking took place in March 2019.