Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport
Encyclopedia
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport is the largest and busiest airport in the five-state upper Midwest
region of Minnesota
, Iowa
, South Dakota
, North Dakota
, and Wisconsin
.
(2009), and thirtieth busiest
airport in the world in 2008. A joint civil-military airport, MSP is also home to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport Joint Air Reserve Station
, supporting both Air Force Reserve Command
and Air National Guard
flight operations. Airlines out of Minneapolis/St. Paul International airport serve 134 nonstop markets from MSP, including 120 domestic and 14 international markets. Compared to other large metropolitan areas in the United States, only the airports in Denver
and Atlanta serve more non-stop markets per capita.
The airport, including both passenger terminal buildings, is mostly located in the Census-designated place
of Fort Snelling
in an unincorporated part of Hennepin County
. Small sections of the airport are within the city limits of Minneapolis. The airport is across the Mississippi River
from St. Paul. The terminal exits of the airport are minutes away from the Mall of America
; careful flight pattern planning ensures that aircraft never fly over the mall at low altitude.
It is the third largest hub airport for Delta Air Lines
and Delta Connection partners Compass Airlines
, Mesaba Airlines
, and Pinnacle Airlines
(with Compass and Mesaba having headquarters nearby). It also serves as the home airport for Sun Country Airlines
. Champion Air
was based at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport until the airline ceased operations in May 2008. Delta Air Lines accounts for more than 80% of the airport's passenger traffic. It is operated by the Metropolitan Airports Commission
, which also handles operation of six smaller airports in the region.
. Soon after, in 1921, the airport was renamed Wold-Chamberlain Field for the World War I
pilots Ernest Groves Wold and Cyrus Foss Chamberlain. Howard Hughes
briefly stopped at Wold-Chamberlain Field on his round the world flight in 1938. In 1944, the site was renamed to Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airport/Wold-Chamberlain Field, with "International" replacing "Metropolitan" four years later. Today, it is very rare to see the Wold-Chamberlain portion of the name used anywhere.
MSP was the main base for Northwest Airlines
starting in 1926, and became the main base of regional carrier North Central Airlines
in 1952. North Central merged with Southern Airways
to form Republic Airlines in 1979; Republic then merged with Northwest in 1986. The combined carrier came to control 79% of traffic at the airport, and merged into Delta Air Lines
in 2010.
Due in part to the impact of aircraft noise on the urban environment of south Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs, Northwest Airlines and others had proposed moving out of MSP and building a new airport on the fringes of the Twin Cities metro area to handle more large jets and more international traffic. Minneapolis and other neighboring cities were concerned that such a move would have a negative economic impact, so an arrangement was made where the Metropolitan Airports Commission would outfit many homes in the vicinity of the airport with sound insulation and air conditioning
so that indoor noise could be reduced. A citizen group named ROAR (Residents Opposed to Airport Racket) was created in 1998 and helped push the MAC to make these concessions. Later, in 2004, the MAC voted to reduce funding for the soundproofing projects, stating in part that the economic climate had turned in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks
. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, who had been a founding member of ROAR, promised that the city would challenge the funding changes.
The main Charles Lindbergh terminal building was built in 1962. It handles all international flights and airlines such as Delta, United, and others. The 1970 disaster film
Airport was partially filmed at MSP, filling in for a fictional Lincoln airport. It was followed by several sequels and was a prototype for many disaster films that followed. The airport used colors as the method for naming different concourses for many years, a convention that was duplicated in the movie. Starting in 2000, MSP switched to lettered concourses, which has become standard practice at airports around the world. The color names still survive as the names for the Lindbergh Terminal parking ramp wings.
The Hubert H. Humphrey Terminal was built in 2001. It is used mostly for charter airlines and low cost carriers, including Sun Country, AirTran, and Southwest.
Icelandair
started service to Minneapolis/St. Paul from Reykjavik in 1998. Northwest operated flights from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Hong Kong and Osaka in 1998 using 747-400 aircraft, but were dropped in the same year. Northwest also operated Minneapolis/St. Paul to Oslo and Frankfurt service using DC-10 aircraft, but they too were dropped. From the early 1990s and to 2000s, KLM operated 747 and MD-11 service from Amsterdam to Minneapolis/St. Paul. In part because of the Delta/KLM joint venture, KLM hasn't served Minneapolis/St. Paul with its own aircraft since 2003.
One bathroom at the airport received notoriety following a June 11, 2007 sting operation
in which Senator Larry Craig
was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct.
Charles Lindbergh
) and the much smaller Humphrey Terminal (named for former US Vice President Hubert Humphrey
). Lindbergh Terminal officially has seven concourses, lettered A-G, with the Humphrey terminal labeled as Concourse H. The Lindbergh Terminal is designated as Terminal 1-Lindbergh and the Humphrey Terminal is designated as Terminal 2-Humphrey. The old Humphrey Terminal, built in the late 1970s, was rebuilt in 2001 to expand capacity and give passengers a more seamless experience.
Like many other airports, MSP interconnects with several other forms of transportation. Several large parking ramps are available for cars. Most other connections are made at the Hub Building and adjacent Transit Center, which has city and shuttle bus
, taxi
, light-rail, and rental
car service. Two trams (people mover
s) are at the airport. One carries passengers from the main section of Lindbergh Terminal to the Hub Building, and another runs along the long Concourse
C in that terminal.
The airport is near Fort Snelling, the site of one of the earliest European settlements in the area. Both the Mississippi
and Minnesota
rivers flow nearby. Minnesota State Highway 5
provides the closest entrance to the Lindbergh Terminal, just a short distance from Interstate 494
. The Humphrey Terminal is accessed via the 34th Avenue exit from I-494, which runs past Fort Snelling National Cemetery
. Delta Air Lines has hangars arranged along I-494 and 34th Avenue, so it's possible to see airliners undergoing maintenance while driving past.
The Blue Line
light-rail has stops at both the Hub Building (Lindbergh Station) and Humphrey Terminal (Humphrey Station). It connects the airport with downtown
Minneapolis as well as with the Mall of America
in nearby Bloomington
, and operates as a shuttle service between the two airport terminals. Travelers can use the rail line to go between the two sites at all times; it is the only part of the line that operates continuously through the night (the rest shuts down for about four hours early in the morning). Passengers going between the two terminals may ride free of charge, but those riding beyond the airport grounds must pay a standard fare. Two parallel tunnels for the line run roughly 70 feet (20 meters) below the airport, and at 1.7 miles (2.7 km) in length are the longest tunnels on the route. The Lindbergh Terminal station is the only one underground on the line, as the rails return to the surface near Humphrey Terminal. Due to current concerns about terrorism
, a great deal of effort went into ensuring that the tunnels are highly blast-resistant. The underground portion was the costliest section of the entire rail project.
The airport has three airline lounges, all located in the Main Terminal: two Delta Air Lines
Sky Clubs and one United Airlines
United Club.
alliance partners to the Humphrey Terminal. This caused increased concern about Northwest Airlines' control of the Minneapolis-St. Paul commercial air service market with some claiming that Northwest was using its market position to inflate airfares. While AirTran Airways
voiced opposition to the plan, American Airlines
and United Airlines
remained neutral on the move since both had exclusive terminals at their own main hubs. Despite the merger between Northwest and Delta Air Lines
, Delta still plans to carry out the expansions. In May 2005, the MAC approved the plan with the following conditions:
Due to the bankruptcies of both Northwest and Mesaba Airlines and various other reasons, much of the plan has yet to be implemented including the expansion of both terminals and the move of some of the non-SkyTeam airlines. However, AirTran and Icelandair
have moved from the Lindbergh Terminal and the new parking structure at the Humphrey Terminal has been completed. Also, part of Concourse C has now been converted to handle mostly regional jets.
at MSP is home to the 934th Airlift Wing
(934 AW), an Air Force Reserve Command
(AFRC) unit, and the 133d Airlift Wing
(133 AW) of the Minnesota Air National Guard
. Both units fly the C-130 Hercules
and are operationally-gained by the Air Mobility Command
(AMC). The 934th consists of over 1,300 military personnel, of which approximately 250 are full-time Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) and Air Reserve Technician (ART) personnel. The 133rd is similarly manned, making for a total military presence of over 2,600 full-time and part-time personnel.
The 934 AW serves as the "host" wing for the installation, which also includes lodging/billeting, officers club, Base Exchange (BX) and other morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) facilities for active, reserve/national guard and retired military personnel and their families.
s:
Runway 17/35 opened in October 2005. Prior to that time, a number of buildings (including several hangars and the City of Richfield
's Rich Acres Golf Course) were demolished to make way for the runway protection zone of the new runway. Similarly, plans for expansion at Mall of America have been delayed by its construction. Aircraft approaching Runway 35 fly slightly east of the Mall of America
, overfly Interstate 494
, and land seconds later. Due to noise concerns from South Minneapolis, between 13 August 2007 and 18 October 2007, Runway 17/35 was used regularly during construction on Runway 12R/30L.
Upper Midwest
The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the midwest. Although there are no uniformly agreed-upon boundaries, the region is most commonly used to refer to the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and...
region of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
, and Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
Overview
In terms of passengers, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport is the fifteenth busiest airport in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(2009), and thirtieth busiest
World's busiest airports by passenger traffic
The world's busiest airports by passenger traffic are measured by number of total passengers . One passenger is described as someone who arrives in, departs from, or transfers through the airport on a given day...
airport in the world in 2008. A joint civil-military airport, MSP is also home to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport Joint Air Reserve Station
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport Joint Air Reserve Station
Minneapolis-Saint Paul Joint Air Reserve Station is a United States Air Force base, located at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. It is located south-southeast of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was formerly the location of Naval Air Station Twin Cities.-Overview:Minneapolis St...
, supporting both Air Force Reserve Command
Air Force Reserve Command
The Air Force Reserve Command is a major command of the U.S. Air Force with its headquarters at Robins AFB, Georgia.It stood up as a major command of the Air Force on 17 February 1997....
and Air National Guard
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...
flight operations. Airlines out of Minneapolis/St. Paul International airport serve 134 nonstop markets from MSP, including 120 domestic and 14 international markets. Compared to other large metropolitan areas in the United States, only the airports in Denver
Denver International Airport
Denver International Airport , often referred to as DIA, is an airport in Denver, Colorado. By land size, at , it is the largest international airport in the United States, and the third largest international airport in the world after King Fahd International Airport and Montréal-Mirabel...
and Atlanta serve more non-stop markets per capita.
The airport, including both passenger terminal buildings, is mostly located in the Census-designated place
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
of Fort Snelling
Fort Snelling, Minnesota
Fort Snelling, originally known as Fort Saint Anthony, was a military fortification located at the confluence of the Minnesota River and Mississippi River in Hennepin County, Minnesota...
in an unincorporated part of Hennepin County
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Hennepin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. As of 2010 the population was 1,152,425. Its county seat is Minneapolis. It is by far the most populous county in Minnesota; more than one in five Minnesotans live...
. Small sections of the airport are within the city limits of Minneapolis. The airport is across the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
from St. Paul. The terminal exits of the airport are minutes away from the Mall of America
Mall of America
The Mall of America, also called MOA and the Megamall, is a shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities, in the United States. It is located southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north of the Minnesota River and is across the...
; careful flight pattern planning ensures that aircraft never fly over the mall at low altitude.
It is the third largest hub airport for Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
and Delta Connection partners Compass Airlines
Compass Airlines (North America)
Compass Airlines is a regional airline headquartered at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in Fort Snelling, Hennepin County, Minnesota; prior to December 16, 2009, it was headquartered in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, east of the Chantilly CDP...
, Mesaba Airlines
Mesaba Airlines
Mesaba Airlines is an American regional airline based in Eagan, Minnesota. The airline operates under Mesaba Aviation, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corporation...
, and Pinnacle Airlines
Pinnacle Airlines
Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline, which is a subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp., and operates as Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines...
(with Compass and Mesaba having headquarters nearby). It also serves as the home airport for Sun Country Airlines
Sun Country Airlines
MN Airlines, LLC, operating as Sun Country Airlines, is an American low-cost airline headquartered in the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb of Mendota Heights, Minnesota...
. Champion Air
Champion Air
Champion Air was an airline based in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA. It operated general charter services to sports teams, vacation wholesalers and government agencies. It also offered limited scheduled service...
was based at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport until the airline ceased operations in May 2008. Delta Air Lines accounts for more than 80% of the airport's passenger traffic. It is operated by the Metropolitan Airports Commission
Metropolitan Airports Commission
The Minneapolis-Saint Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission is the owner and operator of Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in Minnesota as well as six other reliever airports in the Twin Cities region, which primarily provide service to private individuals and businesses, but also have...
, which also handles operation of six smaller airports in the region.
History
The airport first came into being when several local groups came together to take control of the former bankrupt Twin City Speedway race track, giving the airport its original name, Speedway FieldSpeedway Field
Speedway Field was the original name for the airfield that was to evolve into the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport the twelfth busiest airport in the United States; it is also the largest hub for Northwest Airlines....
. Soon after, in 1921, the airport was renamed Wold-Chamberlain Field for the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
pilots Ernest Groves Wold and Cyrus Foss Chamberlain. Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
briefly stopped at Wold-Chamberlain Field on his round the world flight in 1938. In 1944, the site was renamed to Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airport/Wold-Chamberlain Field, with "International" replacing "Metropolitan" four years later. Today, it is very rare to see the Wold-Chamberlain portion of the name used anywhere.
MSP was the main base for Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines, Inc. was a major United States airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines by a merger approved on October 29, 2008, making Delta the largest airline in the world...
starting in 1926, and became the main base of regional carrier North Central Airlines
North Central Airlines
North Central Airlines was founded as Wisconsin Central Airlines in 1944 in Clintonville, Wisconsin. It was headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.-Early history:...
in 1952. North Central merged with Southern Airways
Southern Airways
Southern Airways was a regional airline operating in the United States from its founding by Frank Hulse in 1949 until 1979 when it merged with North Central Airlines to become Republic Airlines, which on October 1, 1986, became part of Northwest Airlines, which in 2008 became a part of Delta Air...
to form Republic Airlines in 1979; Republic then merged with Northwest in 1986. The combined carrier came to control 79% of traffic at the airport, and merged into Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
in 2010.
Due in part to the impact of aircraft noise on the urban environment of south Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs, Northwest Airlines and others had proposed moving out of MSP and building a new airport on the fringes of the Twin Cities metro area to handle more large jets and more international traffic. Minneapolis and other neighboring cities were concerned that such a move would have a negative economic impact, so an arrangement was made where the Metropolitan Airports Commission would outfit many homes in the vicinity of the airport with sound insulation and air conditioning
Air conditioning
An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
so that indoor noise could be reduced. A citizen group named ROAR (Residents Opposed to Airport Racket) was created in 1998 and helped push the MAC to make these concessions. Later, in 2004, the MAC voted to reduce funding for the soundproofing projects, stating in part that the economic climate had turned in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, who had been a founding member of ROAR, promised that the city would challenge the funding changes.
The main Charles Lindbergh terminal building was built in 1962. It handles all international flights and airlines such as Delta, United, and others. The 1970 disaster film
Disaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
Airport was partially filmed at MSP, filling in for a fictional Lincoln airport. It was followed by several sequels and was a prototype for many disaster films that followed. The airport used colors as the method for naming different concourses for many years, a convention that was duplicated in the movie. Starting in 2000, MSP switched to lettered concourses, which has become standard practice at airports around the world. The color names still survive as the names for the Lindbergh Terminal parking ramp wings.
The Hubert H. Humphrey Terminal was built in 2001. It is used mostly for charter airlines and low cost carriers, including Sun Country, AirTran, and Southwest.
Icelandair
Icelandair
Icelandair ehf is the flag carrier airline of Iceland, based on the grounds of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík. It is part of the Icelandair Group and currently operates scheduled services to 31 cities in 13 countries on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean out of its hub at Keflavík International Airport...
started service to Minneapolis/St. Paul from Reykjavik in 1998. Northwest operated flights from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Hong Kong and Osaka in 1998 using 747-400 aircraft, but were dropped in the same year. Northwest also operated Minneapolis/St. Paul to Oslo and Frankfurt service using DC-10 aircraft, but they too were dropped. From the early 1990s and to 2000s, KLM operated 747 and MD-11 service from Amsterdam to Minneapolis/St. Paul. In part because of the Delta/KLM joint venture, KLM hasn't served Minneapolis/St. Paul with its own aircraft since 2003.
One bathroom at the airport received notoriety following a June 11, 2007 sting operation
Larry Craig scandal
The Larry Craig scandal was an incident that began on June 11, 2007, with the arrest of Larry Craig—who at the time was a Senator from Idaho—for lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Craig later entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge of disorderly...
in which Senator Larry Craig
Larry Craig
Larry Edwin Craig is a former Republican politician from the U.S. state of Idaho. He served 18 years in the U.S. Senate , preceded by 10 years in the U.S. House, representing Idaho's first district . His 28 years in the Congress rank as the second-longest in Idaho history, trailing only William...
was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct.
Description
Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport has two terminals, both of which were named for famous Minnesotans: the Lindbergh Terminal (named after the aviatorAviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
) and the much smaller Humphrey Terminal (named for former US Vice President Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
). Lindbergh Terminal officially has seven concourses, lettered A-G, with the Humphrey terminal labeled as Concourse H. The Lindbergh Terminal is designated as Terminal 1-Lindbergh and the Humphrey Terminal is designated as Terminal 2-Humphrey. The old Humphrey Terminal, built in the late 1970s, was rebuilt in 2001 to expand capacity and give passengers a more seamless experience.
Like many other airports, MSP interconnects with several other forms of transportation. Several large parking ramps are available for cars. Most other connections are made at the Hub Building and adjacent Transit Center, which has city and shuttle bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
, taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
, light-rail, and rental
Renting
Renting is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for all property charges regularly incurred by the ownership from landowners...
car service. Two trams (people mover
People mover
A people mover or automated people mover is a fully automated, grade-separated mass transit system.The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks, but is sometimes applied to considerably more complex automated...
s) are at the airport. One carries passengers from the main section of Lindbergh Terminal to the Hub Building, and another runs along the long Concourse
Concourse
A concourse is a place where pathways or roads meet, such as in a hotel, a convention center, a railway station, an airport terminal, a hall, or other space.-Examples:Examples of concourses include:* Meeting halls* Universities* Railway stations...
C in that terminal.
The airport is near Fort Snelling, the site of one of the earliest European settlements in the area. Both the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and Minnesota
Minnesota River
The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of nearly , in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa....
rivers flow nearby. Minnesota State Highway 5
Minnesota State Highway 5
Minnesota State Highway 5 is a highway in Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highways 19 and 22 in Gaylord and continues east and northeast to its eastern terminus at its interchange with State Highway 36 and Washington County Road 5 in Stillwater...
provides the closest entrance to the Lindbergh Terminal, just a short distance from Interstate 494
Interstate 494
Interstate 494 is a loop route making up part of a beltway of Interstate 94, circling through the southern and western portions of the Minneapolis – Saint Paul metropolitan area in Minnesota...
. The Humphrey Terminal is accessed via the 34th Avenue exit from I-494, which runs past Fort Snelling National Cemetery
Fort Snelling National Cemetery
Fort Snelling National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Minneapolis in Hennepin County, Minnesota. It encompasses , and as of April 24, 2007 had 172,001 interments.- History :...
. Delta Air Lines has hangars arranged along I-494 and 34th Avenue, so it's possible to see airliners undergoing maintenance while driving past.
The Blue Line
Hiawatha Line
The Hiawatha Line is a light rail corridor in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from downtown Minneapolis to the southern suburb of Bloomington. It was formerly known as the Hiawatha Line named after Hiawatha Avenue. Major connections on the line include the Minneapolis-St...
light-rail has stops at both the Hub Building (Lindbergh Station) and Humphrey Terminal (Humphrey Station). It connects the airport with downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....
Minneapolis as well as with the Mall of America
Mall of America
The Mall of America, also called MOA and the Megamall, is a shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities, in the United States. It is located southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north of the Minnesota River and is across the...
in nearby Bloomington
Bloomington, Minnesota
Bloomington is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota in Hennepin County. Located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, Bloomington lies at the heart of the southern...
, and operates as a shuttle service between the two airport terminals. Travelers can use the rail line to go between the two sites at all times; it is the only part of the line that operates continuously through the night (the rest shuts down for about four hours early in the morning). Passengers going between the two terminals may ride free of charge, but those riding beyond the airport grounds must pay a standard fare. Two parallel tunnels for the line run roughly 70 feet (20 meters) below the airport, and at 1.7 miles (2.7 km) in length are the longest tunnels on the route. The Lindbergh Terminal station is the only one underground on the line, as the rails return to the surface near Humphrey Terminal. Due to current concerns about terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, a great deal of effort went into ensuring that the tunnels are highly blast-resistant. The underground portion was the costliest section of the entire rail project.
The airport has three airline lounges, all located in the Main Terminal: two Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
Sky Clubs and one United Airlines
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
United Club.
MSP 2020 Vision
In 2004, Northwest Airlines proposed expanding the Lindbergh Terminal to accommodate growing flight operations in a plan known as the MSP 2020 Vision. The proposed expansion included moving all airlines other than Northwest and its SkyTeamSkyTeam
SkyTeam, branded as SKYTEAM, is an airline alliance with its centralised management team, SkyTeam Central, based at the World Trade Center Schiphol Airport on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands...
alliance partners to the Humphrey Terminal. This caused increased concern about Northwest Airlines' control of the Minneapolis-St. Paul commercial air service market with some claiming that Northwest was using its market position to inflate airfares. While AirTran Airways
AirTran Airways
AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of the Dallas, Texas-based Southwest Airlines, is an American low-cost airline headquartered in Orlando, Florida. AirTran operates over 650 daily flights , primarily in the eastern and midwestern United States...
voiced opposition to the plan, American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
and United Airlines
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
remained neutral on the move since both had exclusive terminals at their own main hubs. Despite the merger between Northwest and Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
, Delta still plans to carry out the expansions. In May 2005, the MAC approved the plan with the following conditions:
- The Humphrey Terminal will be expanded to 22 gates, over double its current size
- Another parking ramp will be constructed at the Humphrey Terminal
- Delta and other SkyTeam airlines will have exclusive rights to the entire Lindbergh Terminal
- Non-SkyTeam airlines will use the Humphrey Terminal
- Concourse C will be converted into a regional jet terminal
- A new Concourse H will be built on the site of the former NWA Building B
Due to the bankruptcies of both Northwest and Mesaba Airlines and various other reasons, much of the plan has yet to be implemented including the expansion of both terminals and the move of some of the non-SkyTeam airlines. However, AirTran and Icelandair
Icelandair
Icelandair ehf is the flag carrier airline of Iceland, based on the grounds of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík. It is part of the Icelandair Group and currently operates scheduled services to 31 cities in 13 countries on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean out of its hub at Keflavík International Airport...
have moved from the Lindbergh Terminal and the new parking structure at the Humphrey Terminal has been completed. Also, part of Concourse C has now been converted to handle mostly regional jets.
Airlines and destinations
Concourses A-G are located at the Lindbergh Terminal (Terminal 1), whilst Concourse H is the Humphrey Terminal (Terminal 2).Traffic and statistics
| Rank | Airport | Passengers | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Amsterdam, Netherlands |
453,995 | Delta |
| 2 |  Tokyo (Narita), JapanNarita International Airport is an international airport serving the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is located east of Tokyo Station and east-southeast of Narita Station in the city of Narita, and the adjacent town of Shibayama.... |
258,785 | Delta |
| 3 |  Cancún, MexicoCancún International Airport Cancún International Airport is located in Cancún, Quintana Roo, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. It is Mexico's second busiest airport, after Mexico City International Airport in Mexico City, but the biggest in Mexico and Latin America for International passengers... |
183,418 | Delta, Sun Country |
| 4 |  Winnipeg, Canada |
161,212 | Delta |
| 5 | Toronto (Pearson), Canada Toronto Pearson International Airport Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada; its metropolitan area; and the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration that is home to 8.1 million people – approximately 25% of Canada's population... |
159,070 | Air Canada, Delta |
| 6 | Calgary, Canada Calgary International Airport Calgary International Airport, , is the international airport that serves Calgary, Alberta, Canada and the surrounding region; it is situated approximately northeast of downtown Calgary... |
143,786 | Delta |
| 7 |  London (Heathrow), United KingdomLondon Heathrow Airport London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe... |
125,806 | Delta |
| 8 | Edmonton, Canada Edmonton International Airport Edmonton International Airport is the primary air passenger and air cargo facility in the Edmonton region in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is a hub facility for Northern Alberta and Northern Canada providing regularly scheduled nonstop flights to over fifty communities in Canada, the United... |
125,780 | Delta |
| 9 | Vancouver, Canada Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about from Downtown Vancouver. In 2010 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements and passengers , behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to... |
125,425 | Delta |
| 10 |  Paris (Charles de Gaulle), France |
67,881 | Delta |
| Rank | Airport | Passengers | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Denver, ColoradoDenver International Airport Denver International Airport , often referred to as DIA, is an airport in Denver, Colorado. By land size, at , it is the largest international airport in the United States, and the third largest international airport in the world after King Fahd International Airport and Montréal-Mirabel... |
768,000 | Delta, Frontier, Southwest, United |
| 2 |  Atlanta, GeorgiaHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport , known locally as Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield Airport, and Hartsfield–Jackson, is located seven miles south of the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States... |
750,000 | AirTran, Delta |
| 3 |  Chicago (O'Hare), Illinois |
719,000 | American, Delta, United |
| 4 |  Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located southeast of the central business district of the city of Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States... |
621,000 | Delta, Southwest, Sun Country, US Airways |
| 5 |  Seattle, WashingtonSeattle-Tacoma International Airport The Seattle–Tacoma International Airport , also known as Sea–Tac Airport or Sea–Tac , is an American airport located in SeaTac, Washington, at the intersections of State Routes 99 and 509 and 518, about west of Interstate 5... |
493,000 | Alaska, Delta, Sun Country |
| 6 |  Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually... |
403,000 | Delta, Sun Country |
| 7 |  Las Vegas, NevadaMcCarran International Airport McCarran International Airport is the principal commercial airport serving Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, United States. The airport is located five miles south of the central business district of Las Vegas, in the unincorporated area of Paradise in Clark County. It covers an area of and... |
402,000 | Delta, Sun Country |
| 8 |  Milwaukee, WisconsinGeneral Mitchell International Airport General Mitchell International Airport is a county-owned public airport located five miles south of the central business district of Milwaukee, a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States.... |
397,000 | AirTran, Delta |
| 9 | Chicago (Midway), Illinois |
387,000 | Delta, Southwest |
| 10 |  Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas |
387,000 | American, Delta, Sun Country |
Cargo operations
Military facilities
The Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport Joint Air Reserve StationMinneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport Joint Air Reserve Station
Minneapolis-Saint Paul Joint Air Reserve Station is a United States Air Force base, located at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. It is located south-southeast of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was formerly the location of Naval Air Station Twin Cities.-Overview:Minneapolis St...
at MSP is home to the 934th Airlift Wing
934th Airlift Wing
The 934th Airlift Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of the Minneapolis-St Paul Joint Air Reserve Station, Minnesota.-Mission:...
(934 AW), an Air Force Reserve Command
Air Force Reserve Command
The Air Force Reserve Command is a major command of the U.S. Air Force with its headquarters at Robins AFB, Georgia.It stood up as a major command of the Air Force on 17 February 1997....
(AFRC) unit, and the 133d Airlift Wing
133d Airlift Wing
The 133d Airlift Wing is a unit of the Minnesota Air National Guard and Minnesota National Guard, part of the United States Air Force. It's located at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport in St. Paul, Minnesota. Operationally-gained by the Air Mobility Command , the 133 AW flies the C-130 H3...
(133 AW) of the Minnesota Air National Guard
Minnesota Air National Guard
The Minnesota Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is, along with the Minnesota Army National Guard, an element of the Minnesota National Guard.-Mission:...
. Both units fly the C-130 Hercules
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
and are operationally-gained by the Air Mobility Command
Air Mobility Command
Air Mobility Command is a Major Command of the U.S. Air Force. AMC is headquartered at Scott AFB, Illinois, east of St. Louis....
(AMC). The 934th consists of over 1,300 military personnel, of which approximately 250 are full-time Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) and Air Reserve Technician (ART) personnel. The 133rd is similarly manned, making for a total military presence of over 2,600 full-time and part-time personnel.
The 934 AW serves as the "host" wing for the installation, which also includes lodging/billeting, officers club, Base Exchange (BX) and other morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) facilities for active, reserve/national guard and retired military personnel and their families.
Runways
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport has four runwayRunway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
s:
- Runway 4/22: 11,006 x 150 ft. (3,354 x 46 m), Surface: ConcreteConcreteConcrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
- Runway 12R/30L: 10,000 x 200 ft. (3,048 x 61 m), Surface: AsphaltAsphaltAsphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
/ConcreteConcreteConcrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word... - Runway 12L/30R: 8,200 x 150 ft. (2,499 x 46 m), Surface: AsphaltAsphaltAsphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
/ConcreteConcreteConcrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word... - Runway 17/35: 8,000 x 150 ft. (2,438 x 46 m), Surface: ConcreteConcreteConcrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
Runway 17/35 opened in October 2005. Prior to that time, a number of buildings (including several hangars and the City of Richfield
Richfield, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 34,439 people, 15,073 households, and 8,727 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,993.9 people per square mile . There were 15,357 housing units at an average density of 2,226.9 per square mile...
's Rich Acres Golf Course) were demolished to make way for the runway protection zone of the new runway. Similarly, plans for expansion at Mall of America have been delayed by its construction. Aircraft approaching Runway 35 fly slightly east of the Mall of America
Mall of America
The Mall of America, also called MOA and the Megamall, is a shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities, in the United States. It is located southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north of the Minnesota River and is across the...
, overfly Interstate 494
Interstate 494
Interstate 494 is a loop route making up part of a beltway of Interstate 94, circling through the southern and western portions of the Minneapolis – Saint Paul metropolitan area in Minnesota...
, and land seconds later. Due to noise concerns from South Minneapolis, between 13 August 2007 and 18 October 2007, Runway 17/35 was used regularly during construction on Runway 12R/30L.
See also
- Minnesota World War II Army AirfieldsMinnesota World War II Army AirfieldsDuring World War II, the United States Army Air Force established numerous airfields in Minnesota for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers....
External links
- MAC Noise Homepage (official—interactive maps of flights and noise data)
- Live Air Traffic Control streams including MSP
- OpenNav airspace and charts for KMSP