Leisure travel is taking off at MSP airport
May 4, 2021
Just over a year after air travel plummeted at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, more planes are returning to the skies at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport as passengers continue to get vaccinated and plan getaways.
Average daily departures for May 2021 are at 346 per day. That's almost triple what it was a year ago during the lowest point in the pandemic, when average daily departures were at 123 per day in May 2020, according to the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns and operates MSP.
"We're seeing some positive trends in terms of the number of passengers coming back to travel," said Chad Leqve, vice president of management and operations for the MAC, adding that MSP saw its daily peak during the pandemic with nearly 30,000 passengers on March 26, around the spring-break period. "As we look forward to the summer, we anticipate further demand to materialize at the airport, as well."