MSP Airport Begins T2 Expansion
August 1, 2024
The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) announced Thursday that it has begun work on an expansion of Terminal 2 that will bear fruit this fall with two new gates followed by two more by 2027. MAC CEO Brian Ryks cites record demand in Q1—with passenger boardings up 10% year over year—by the terminal’s year-round tenant airlines: Allegiant, Frontier, Sun Country, and Southwest. (Condor and Icelandair are summer tenants, while JetBlue is leaving the market in October.)
The primary driver of the $263 million investment, though, is Sun Country, whose operating model is a bank of early morning flights to the coasts, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Some of those planes return midday and cycle to a domestic destination, returning late at night or on a red eye. The airline needs more overnight 737 parking at MSP and more gates at T2 to grow its peak-season service, from Christmas to Easter. The airline is not gate constrained at other times of year.
