MINNEAPOLIS — International travelers will have a new option next summer at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP).
On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) announced Lufthansa will launch its first-ever service in Minnesota with a year-round route between MSP and the airline's Frankfurt (FRA) hub in Germany.
Lufthansa will become the 18th airline operating at MSP and the airport's first new trans-Atlantic carrier in over four years, according to the MAC news release.
"We're thrilled to welcome Lufthansa and the airline's stellar reputation as a premium global carrier," Brian Ryks, MAC's CEO, said in the release. "It's exciting to see this new service that will support the increased year-round demand for air travel from Minnesota and the upper Midwest to Europe and other international destinations."
Officials said the the year-round route will be available five days a week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jet airliner is the designated aircraft to be making the trips.
Officials said the flight to Germany will depart MSP at 3:15 p.m. (local time) and arrive in Frankfurt at 6:40 a.m. (local time) the following day.
MAC officials said that early arrival time will give international travelers better options for catching a connecting flight to another destination such as India or East Africa, which has seen increased demand from Minnesota.
"Demand to East Africa from the Twin Cities is currently the fourth-highest in the U.S. after Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago," according to the MAC release.
Tickets for the Frankfurt flights will go on sale beginning Wednesday, Sept. 13.
This Frankfurt connection is just the latest add-on to the list of other international flights MSP has brought back following the pandemic.
And earlier this summer, Calgary-based WestJet, the second-largest Canadian airline, started flights between MSP and Edmonton, Alberta (YEG).
