The once dreary far end of the G Concourse at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport now features an airy rotunda, more-expansive gate areas, a wider corridor and polished terrazzo floors — all part of an $84 million overhaul in the airport's main terminal.
Now all that's needed is an influx of air travelers to kick off summer travel on this Memorial Day weekend. And airport officials say the throng is coming.
About 29,000 passengers are expected to clear security Thursday in both of MSP's terminals, a respectable tally as air travel returns following the COVID-19 outbreak two years ago.
And while that's not nearly as brisk as pre-pandemic levels, when 40,000 to 45,000 passengers were screened on busy days, the airport is ready to welcome them back.
"We have seen steady passenger growth throughout the spring, including an all-time record number of passengers at Terminal 2 in March," said Brian Ryks, CEO of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which operates MSP. Terminal 2 is home to Sun Country Airlines, Southwest Airlines and others.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is screening well over 2 million passengers a day at airports across the country, according to spokeswoman Jessica Mayle. "During the month of April, the average daily passenger load was about 91 percent of pre-pandemic levels," she said.
MSP and TSA officials anticipate passenger volumes will match and likely exceed summer 2019 levels for the first time since the pandemic struck. When COVID took hold in the spring of 2020, air travel at MSP plummeted by 95%. But it has steadily climbed since then.
"I just started flying again last year," said Chad Flentje, a Twin Cities resident and avid traveler. Flentje and his two sons were headed to Krakow, Poland, on Wednesday — the first leg of the trip being a nonstop flight from MSP to Amsterdam.
