More passengers returned to MSP in 2021, though not yet at pre-pandemic levels

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Thursday reported strong year-over-year gains in air travel in 2021, but at levels that were still 36% lower than those reported before the COVID-19 outbreak.

More than 25 million people flew into or out of MSP last year, almost a 70% increase over 2020. But that total fell far short of 2019, when a record 39.5 million passengers took to the skies here.

"While the rebound in passengers this past year is encouraging, we are still faced with many challenges and uncertainties with air travel because of the continued spread of COVID globally," said Brian Ryks, CEO of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which operates MSP.

Twenty-seven year-round or seasonal domestic destinations were added at MSP last year, according to the MAC. The airport reported 137 non-stop destinations in 2021, an increase over the 119 destinations tallied in 2020 but down from 167 destinations available before the pandemic.

MSP served 118 domestic destinations during 2021, compared with 137 in 2019. The airport has recovered 19 out of 30 pre-pandemic international routes, the MAC reported.

MSP handled 303,850 takeoffs and landings in 2021, an increase of 24% from 2020. That compares with 406,124 takeoffs and landings in 2019. The MAC said passenger airline operations in 2021 averaged about 741 a day, down from more than 1,000 daily in 2019.

In 2021, most passengers at MSP — about 24 million — flew to or from domestic destinations, compared with 740,879 on international flights, the MAC said.

The top five airlines at MSP last year in passenger market share were Delta Air Lines, 72%; Sun Country Airlines, 10%; American Airlines, 5.5%; Southwest Airlines, 4.7%; and United Airlines, 3.6%. Those figures include the airlines' regional affiliates.

It appears that air travel is trending strongly so far in 2022. The MAC said airlines this month are operating an average of 362 departures a day, compared with 299 in January 2021. The number is expected to "tick slightly higher" in February to 368 and then reach 400 flights or more in March for spring break.

"While MSP saw a stronger rebound in domestic travel and several new destinations this past year, we hope to see a more meaningful recovery in the business and international travel sectors in 2022," Ryks said in a news release.

The MAC said cargo activity has remained strong at the airport throughout the pandemic, "backed by global e-commerce growth." Total cargo carried last year amounted to 234,747 metric tons, surpassing 2019's pre-pandemic cargo shipments by 2.5% and 2020 levels by 15.2%.