BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — A new report shows more travelers are returning to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) following the big dip in travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The airport booked more than 31 million passengers in 2022, which is a 24% bump over numbers carried in 2021, according to MSP's year-end passenger and operations report released Monday.
MSP officials say that 31.2 million passengers in 2022 marked "79% recovery" to the threshold of 39.6 million passengers carried in 2019.
In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, passenger totals plummeted to 14.9 million.
Over the last two years the airport has seen an increase of 16.3 million travelers, according to the release.
Airport officials say one of the most encouraging signs of recovery in 2022 was the increase in people booking international flights. Last year, more than two million passengers were on international flights flying in or out of MSP.
That's a 175% increase over 2021, according to the new report.
"Our recovery over the last year included several bright spots, highlighted by a continued expansion of domestic routes and a significant rebound in international service," said Brian Ryks, CEO of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which operates MSP. "As we look to further close the gap to pre-pandemic passenger levels, we're encouraged airlines have already announced new destinations and flight frequencies for 2023 and that they continue to utilize larger aircraft with more seat capacity to meet increased demand out of MSP."
Airlines at MSP are increasingly using bigger aircraft to meet the demands of the bump in travel. As a result, available seats on departing flights grew by 7% in 2022 compared to 2021 at the airport.
According to the researchers, these were top-5 airlines in passenger market share in 2022 at MSP:
1. Delta* 71.10% share
2. Sun Country 10.80%
3. American* 4.60%
4. Southwest 4.40%
5. United* 4.20%
(Percentages rounded. *Includes regional affiliates.)
Here are some additional statistics included in the report:
- MSP supported 310,235 aircraft takeoffs and landings in 2022, up 2% from 2021
- The most popular airplane at MSP in 2022 was Boeing 737-800 with 35,800 takeoffs and flights
- The Airbus A321 was second most popular with 35,500 takeoffs and flights
- Cargo goods transported through MSP held steady in 2022, totaling 236,450 metric tons
- At the start of 2023, airlines are operating an average of 358 departures a day
