KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Travelers at Kansas City International Airport were surprised on Friday afternoon when the crowds of people travelling for the holidays weren’t as big as they expected.
Jamie Lynam was heading to see family in Florida.
“Surprised that this is one of the busiest days of the year because it doesn’t seem to be as busy as I would think it would be,” she said.
She remembered a travel experience she had weeks ago when “cars were lined up and it was bumper to bumper. This is nothing.”
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TSA said they were expecting a bigger crowd than last year and on Thursday screened more than 2.6 million passengers.
At KCI, the aviation department said that they were expecting more than 400,000 people this year in the new terminal. That’s 24% more passengers than last holiday season.
Chris Toto is from New York and was traveling back home after a business trip.
“So far, so good. It hasn’t been too crazy.” he said.
While Kansas City has been relatively calm, travelers FOX4 talked to said other airports were seeing that holiday rush.
Brant and Kaydee Gregg are in town from Denver and said, “the restaurants [at the airport] were packed there” but when they got off the plane in Kansas City “it was super dead.”
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One of the areas where people did see crowds was on the arrivals level when picking people up.
The Kansas City Aviation Department wants to remind everyone to “time their arrival at the curb to exactly when the passenger is at the curb, not when the aircraft landed or when they are at baggage claim.” They say this will help alleviate some of the traffic on that level.
The TSA said they’re expecting New Years’ Day to be the next large rush of holiday travelers.
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