As summer's second holiday begins, MSP is seeing the most passengers since before pandemic

Passenger traffic continues to rebound at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with officials expecting a busy July 4th weekend.

More than 30,000 passengers passed through MSP security a handful of days in the past month, marking the airport's busiest days in the since before the pandemic.

MSP officials say their passenger levels are in line with robust travel seen nationally this summer.

MSP saw more than 2 million passengers traverse its halls in May, the latest available monthly data. Enplanements — industry parlance for passenger boardings — were only down 38% from pre-pandemic levels. By contrast, enplanements were down a whopping 92% in May 2020.

"Our terminals are growing busier, and there are peak hours on some days when passenger activity nears 2019 levels," said Brian Ryks, CEO of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which operates MSP.

"We expect passenger activity to continue its recovery through the July 4 holiday weekend and beyond based on booking forecasts, increased flights and the resumption of more international service," he said.

International destinations, including several trans-Atlantic routes, are also slowly returning to MSP.

Delta Air Lines' nonstop service to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport will resume on Wednesday, marking MSP's ninth international route to return since the start of the pandemic.

On average, MSP is expecting 421 daily departures in July, up from 404 in June. Last July, MSP averaged 249 average daily departures.

While travelers may now be accustomed to no longer wearing masks in public, federal regulations require everyone to wear face coverings in airports and on the aircraft.