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The Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce phenomenon has soared to even greater heights thanks to two airlines that added new flights from Kansas City to Las Vegas to their schedule for NFL Super Bowl weekend.
American Airlines and United Airlines will offer special flights to Las Vegas, where the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs will play in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. These flights will only be scheduled between Feb. 9 and Feb. 12 to help fans get to the big game and all the weekend festivities leading up to it.
One of the biggest stories of the 2023-2024 NFL season has been the relationship between Kansas City’s tight end Travis Kelce and music megastar Taylor Swift. The couple has been dating for months, and Swift has become a regular fixture at Chiefs games to cheer on her man.
Seeing the opportunity to ride the couple’s popularity and connect it with the biggest sports event of the year, American Airlines and United Airlines made a decision to add new flights to Las Vegas for fans who want to be where all the action will happen.
“The excitement surrounding this year’s sporting events has never been greater,” an American Airlines spokesperson told CNN. “You could say that after tonight’s games, we are in our football era, and we are thrilled to provide direct flights from Kansas City to Las Vegas. To our customers who are huge sports fans, look what you made us do.”
AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann
These new flights have Swift- and Kelce-inspired flight numbers to keep fans excited.
American Airlines has flight number AA 1989 going from Kansas City to Las Vegas at 12:30 p.m. local time and arriving at 1:35 p.m. local time on Friday, Feb. 9, or Saturday, Feb. 10. Of course, 1989 is a hat tip to Swift’s “1989” album.
The returning flight from Las Vegas to Kansas City is flight AA 87, a nod to Kelce’s jersey number. It leaves Las Vegas at 12:20 a.m. local time.
Or, you could choose to leave a little later on flight AA15, an ode to Chief’s quarterback Patrick Mahomes, at 8:30 a.m. local time
United Airlines got in on the fun, too. They created flights to Las Vegas from Kansas City and San Francisco inspired by Kelce and Swift, including:
From Kansas City to Las Vegas:
UA 1587: Combining Kelce’s and Mahomes’ jersey numbers
UA 2287: Blending Swift’s popular song title and Kelce’s jersey number
UA 1989: One of Swift’s album titles and her birth year
United also numbered two of their flights from San Francisco to Las Vegas to match the year of the gold rush and a year when the 49ers won a Super Bowl.
What do you think of all the publicity surrounding the Super Bowl and the world’s most popular superstar couple? Let us know!