Four New Aircraft Gates Open at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport


Oct 19, 2016

New passenger amenities were also part of the project, including a lactation room, a nursing mothers’ room and an indoor pet/service animal relief area, all of which are new to Terminal 2.

“These gates will provide us with the added capacity necessary to keep up with the ever increasing demand for air service,” said Brian Ryks, executive director/CEO for the Metropolitan Airports Commission. “Air service competition helps keep fares low and options plentiful for both business and leisure travelers. This addition ensures we can accommodate increased competition at MSP.”

New gates H11-H14 are flanked by a “green” roof that can be viewed from inside. The roof, which contains a variety of native plants, not only provides a more interesting view to the outside, it also helps reduce rainwater runoff and reduces CO2 levels in the air.

Yet to be added to the space are several hanging art installations. Passengers will begin enjoying those later this fall.

The total cost of the project was approximately $27.5 million.

Contractors and consultants that worked on the project include: Miller Dunwiddie Architects, Michaud Cooley Erickson, Kimley Horn, Meyer Borgman Johnson, Faith Group, Kraus-Anderson and Knutson Construction.

At an event to commemorate the opening, and in conjunction with the Minnesota Educators Academy (MEA) break – one of the busiest weeks of the year at MSP- passengers interacted with animals and their handlers from the Minnesota Zoo’s Zoomobile. The youngest travelers could also get their face painted for free.

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About Terminal 2-Humphrey

Terminal 2 airlines include: Condor, Icelandair, Southwest and Sun Country. Since January of this year, these airlines added and/or announced the following new service at MSP:

  • Icelandair expanded its seasonal service to Reykjavik to year-round.
  • Sun Country added new routes to Denver, Colo. and Portland, Ore. in May and June. They also announced new service to West Palm Beach, Fla., which begins December 17, 2016.
  • Southwest added a flight to Baltimore/Washington in April and has announced it will add seasonal service to four Florida destinations: Ft. Lauderdale in January 2017, and seasonal service to Ft. Myers, Orlando and Tampa in March 2017.

For the January-July 2016 period, the passenger count at Terminal 2 was 2.57 million, a 5.4 percent increase from the same period in 2015.

Total aircraft operations were up 3.7 percent in the same period.

International flights are up as well, with international passenger counts up 12.2 percent in the first seven months of 2016.

Traffic to spring break destinations served by Sun Country Airlines helped fuel the trend. Icelandair and Condor Airlines have also increased their international flight operations.