Kansas City, Missouri – The Kansas City Aviation Department released their passenger numbers for September 2025. The numbers show that airport traffic was down a little bit from the same month last year. During the month, 972,973 people flew through Kansas City International Airport (MCI), making it the third-busiest September in the airport’s history. This was a 2.8% drop from September 2024. Of those, 483,783 were outbound passengers, a 2.6% year-over-year decline.
The airport saw 8,555,773 arriving and departing passengers between January and September. This is a 6.2% decline from the same time last year. The data indicates that air travel is starting to calm down a little after record-breaking months earlier this year, but passenger traffic is still healthy compared to trends from the past.
While the number of passengers went down a little, the amount of air cargo went up. In September, air carriers moved 22.5 million pounds of mail and freight, which is 3.3% more than the same month last year. Yet, the total amount of air cargo shipped in the first nine months of 2025 was 182.5 million pounds, which is 8% less than the same time last year. This suggests that demand in the logistics and distribution sectors is changing.
Read also: Kansas City breaks ground on $300 million Parade Park Homes redevelopment honoring Black heritage
In September, Kansas City International had an average of 156 scheduled departures on peak days, connecting visitors to 48 nonstop destinations. The airport had roughly 40,184 scheduled seats available per day for both arriving and departing planes. Cargo operations stayed the same, with all-cargo carriers making an average of nine departures every day.
The Kansas City Airport System is an Enterprise Fund Department for the City of Kansas City, Missouri. It contains Kansas City International Airport and Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport. This means that it can run and maintain itself without any local tax money, just by charging users fees.
Read also: KCI Corridor Trail opens as latest investment in Kansas City’s active transportation network
FlyKC.com and the airport’s official social media platforms have more information regarding airline schedules, airport services, and travel alerts.
