Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport airport saw 31.2 million passengers in 2022, up 24% compared to 2021, according to figures released by the Metropolitan Airports Commission on Monday. It showed continued growth back to pre-COVID-19 pandemic business, when the airport was enjoying a decade of increases and a record number of passengers in 2019.
“That was a record year, a string of ten years of growth, and 39.6 million total travelers,” said MAC spokesperson Jeff Lea. “It was the high mark that we came off of right into the pandemic.”
Lea said one change some passengers may have noticed last year were larger aircraft on more routes.
“There was seven percent growth in the total number of seats. And while operations didn’t grow as dramatically as maybe the passengers, that just means airlines have been utilizing larger aircraft to meet demand for more seats,” said Lea.
According to MAC figures, carriers at MSP have an average of 358 departures a day so far in 2023, with first quarter total seats tracking 7.5% greater than 2022.