Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Kansas City International Airport (KMCI) is a major civil airport serving the Kansas City metropolitan area, located in Platte County, Missouri, some 15 miles northwest of downtown Kansas City. Opened in 1972 as the successor to the cramped downtown Kansas City Municipal Airport, it offers three long, well-equipped runways and full ILS coverage, making it a straightforward if busy destination for simulator pilots flying airliner or general aviation traffic into Class B airspace.
Kansas City International Airport, known locally as KCI, is the principal commercial airport for the Kansas City metropolitan area and is operated by the Kansas City Aviation Department. It sits amid open farmland in Platte County, Missouri, and offers three substantial paved runways with full ILS approaches, making it an interesting Class B destination for simulator pilots wanting to fly airliner operations into a major Midwestern hub, or to fly general aviation traffic around a busy controlled field.
The airport lies within controlled Class B airspace and is served by its own approach, departure and tower facilities. It is located in Platte County, Missouri, about 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Downtown Kansas City, on open farmland north of the historic hamlet of Hampton, Missouri.
Kansas City International has three physical runways. Runway 01L/19R is 10,804 feet long with a hard surface, lit, and equipped with ILS. Runway 01R/19L is 9,508 feet long, hard surface, lit, with ILS. Runway 09/27 is 9,479 feet long, hard surface, lit, with ILS. All three runways therefore offer instrument approaches, giving good flexibility for arrivals in varying wind conditions.
Kansas City International is served by Approach on 120.95 MHz, Departure on 124.7 MHz, Ground on 121.65 MHz, and Tower (International Tower) on 125.75 MHz. The ATIS broadcasts on 126.625 MHz, and clearance delivery is also available. A Columbia Radio frequency of 122.65 MHz and a UNICOM frequency of 122.95 MHz are also listed. Frequencies should be reproduced exactly as published for flight planning.
Kansas City International traces its origins to the aftermath of the Great Flood of 1951, which destroyed the riverside facilities of Mid-Continent Airlines and TWA at Fairfax Municipal Airport, prompting the city to plan a new airport with 10,000-foot runways well away from the Missouri River. Following lobbying by Jay B. Dillingham, president of the flood-damaged Kansas City Stockyards, the city chose a site north of the unincorporated hamlet of Hampton, Missouri, over an alternative at the existing Grandview Airport. The site was selected in May 1953 under City Manager L.P. Cookingham, ground was broken in September 1954, and the first runway opened in 1956. TWA moved its major overhaul base, at its peak the city's largest employer with 6,000 workers, to the new airport. The old downtown Kansas City Municipal Airport had been criticised by a 1963 Federal Aviation Agency memo as one of the poorest major airports in the country for large jets, hemmed in by the bluffs of Quality Hill and unable to safely handle aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and forthcoming 747; this was underlined when Continental Airlines Flight 12 overran the runway there in July 1965. The new airport, originally named Mid-Continent International Airport after the historic oil-field routes of its predecessor airline, formally opened on 11 November 1972 at 1:22 am, replacing Kansas City Municipal Airport for all scheduled passenger services, and was subsequently renamed Kansas City International Airport.
Kansas City International today is a large international airport handling scheduled airline traffic across dozens of nonstop domestic and international routes, and has historically served as a hub for Braniff, Eastern, Midwest, TWA and Vanguard. A new single-terminal complex was completed in 2023, replacing the airport's original design. The field lies within Class B airspace and has customs facilities for international arrivals. It remains under the Kansas City Aviation Department, which also operates the smaller Kansas City Downtown Airport (Wheeler Field).
