Southwest, American add Kansas City-Tampa direct flights for Super Bowl

Pandemic or not, Kansas City Chiefs fans are coming to Tampa for the Super Bowl against the Buccaneers. And airlines are working overtime to help them get there.

American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have both added flights between Kansas City International Airport and Tampa International Airport in the days before and after Super Bowl 55 on Feb. 7 at Raymond James Stadium.

Southwest, Tampa International’s largest carrier, has added two direct flights from Kansas City on Feb. 4 and three on Feb. 5. There will be three direct flights from Tampa back to Kansas City on Feb. 8, and one more on Feb. 9.

American added one direct flight into Tampa on Friday, Feb. 5 and back to Kansas City on Monday, Feb. 8. (American, like Southwest and other carriers, also has multiple one-stop routes between the cities in early February.)

Across the bridge, as of Monday, Allegiant Air still had seats available on its direct flights between Kansas City International Airport and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport on Feb. 5 and 8.

Long before the Chiefs and Bucs advanced to the Super Bowl, Tampa International Airport had been making plans to handle a crush of additional travelers. The airport will station about 100 volunteers throughout the airport to help guide out-of-towners, and will sell official Super Bowl and NFL merchandise in the main terminal. The airport has implemented 5G and enhanced 4G mobile service to offer what it has said are some of the fastest internet speeds in the region.

And the airport is still offering on-site COVID-19 testing for travelers looking for peace of mind before getting on a flight.