It's MEA week and that means the airport is going to be busy. And busy might be an understatement.
"We're going to see more than 52,000 people coming through the doors to the counters and through the checkpoints on Thursday, which is our peak day for MEA week," says Airport spokesman Jeff Lea. "But on Wednesday, it was nearly 49,000 and those are summer-like numbers."
For comparison, about 44,000 people traveled out of MSP for the traditionally busy Labor Day Weekend. This weekend's numbers don't account for those with connecting flights either.
Because trips are more family oriented this week, there will be plenty of activities for travelers too.
"So we have music performances and we have some surprises, and lights and tables and activities at various places in Terminal One and Terminal Two over the next couple of days to give some entertainment and activities for families before they head out," Lea said.
Expect mornings to be the busiest at both terminals all weekend.
The long, MEA weekend is a break for students at teachers gather in St. Paul for a conference each year, and it's become one of the busiest travel weekends in Minnesota.
"It's been an opportunity for people to sort of travel before the holidays and before winter sets out, and so it's continued to grow and we've seen it grow in demand the last several years," Lea explained. "Certainly coming out of COVID."
They're asking travelers to build in a little extra time for traffic and security lines. That's two hours ahead of time for domestic flights and three hours for international. If you don't have CLEAR or TSA Precheck, you can also pre-book your visit to the security screening with MSP RESERVE.
There's also road work in the area because this is Minnesota and of course there is. The 494 stretch through Bloomington and Richfield is under construction. If you're parking at the airport, expect it to be in high demand and airport officials say pre-booking a spot is the best course of action.
The good news for travelers? Weather won't have any affect on flights in and out of Minnesota.