Despite MEA week bringing a travel surge to the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, officials say the number of travelers remains 25% to 30% below the levels during MEA weekend travel in 2019 prior to the COVID pandemic.
“On a typical weekend, 2019 or before, we would see 47,000 people going through the checkpoint today, tomorrow, and a couple of days between now and the weekend,” says Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesperson Jeff Lea. “Now, we're going to see anywhere from 29,000 to 35,000 people.
Lea who says despite the numbers tracking behind the numbers from 2019, this year’s MEA weekend numbers are well above those posted a year ago at the height of the pandemic.
“It's going to double that or slightly more than double with the latest numbers we saw just this morning,” Lea told WCCO’s Mark Freie.
Lea says last year’s biggest MEA travel day saw some 17,000 people come through MSP.
Wednesday was a busy one for the airport and Thursday will likely be even busier, with more than 34,000 departing passengers expected to go through TSA checkpoints.
Lea adds the scene at MSP could be comparable to a Thanksgiving weekend travel experience.
“A lot of people that have a couple days off and they're being able to begin their holiday or their fall vacation on that very first day, which lines up with Thursday,” Lea said. “So that seems to be a big departure day out of MSP.”
This year travelers have more choices to fly for MEA weekend than a year ago. Airlines are opening more than 180 routes this month, up from 135 routes last year, and with 389 average daily departures. That’s up 89 from 2020.
“We have such a big upswing in passenger traffic, but we don't have a lot of big change in our actual number of flights that are going out,” explains Lea. “Passengers can expect, obviously at peak times, very full terminal lobbies, concourses and of course aircraft.”
If you’re flying this MEA weekend….don’t forget the airport’s COVID-19 safety protocols.
“The number one thing is the federal regulation that all people entering the airport must have a face mask,” warns Lea. “You must have a face mask at our airport, or in any other airport, that you travel through and on-board an aircraft. And so that's the main thing.”
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