Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport
FAA Airport Diagram
IATA: MSP – ICAO: KMSP – FAA: MSP
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		MAC
Serves		Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota
Hub for		Northwest Airlines Sun Country Airlines
Elevation AMSL		841 ft / 256 m
Coordinates		44°52′55″N 093°13′18″W / 44.88194°N 93.22167°W / 44.88194; -93.22167
Website		www.mspairport.com
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
4/22	11,000	3,354	Concrete
12R/30L	10,000	3,048	Asphalt/Concrete
12L/30R	8,200	2,499	Concrete
17/35	8,000	2,438	Concrete
Statistics (2008)
Passengers			34,056,443
Traffic Movements			450,044
Source: Passenger & traffic statistics from MSP airport.[1]

Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (IATA: MSP, ICAO: KMSP, FAA LID: MSP) is the largest and busiest airport in the five-state upper Midwest region of Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.

In terms of passengers, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport is the sixteenth busiest airport in the United States (2008),^[2] and thirtieth busiest airport in the world in 2008. A joint civil-military airport, MSP is also home to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Joint Air Reserve Station, supporting both Air Force Reserve Command and Air National Guard flight operations. Airlines out of Minneapolis/St. Paul International airport serve 131 nonstop markets from MSP, including 116 domestic and 14 international markets. Compared to other metropolitan areas in the United States, only Denver serves slightly more non-stop markets per capita.

The airport, including both passenger terminal buildings, is mostly located in the Census-designated place of Fort Snelling in an unincorporated part of Hennepin County. Small sections of the airport are within the city limits of Minneapolis and Richfield. The airport is across the Mississippi River from St. Paul. The terminal exits of the airport are minutes away from the Mall of America; careful flight pattern planning ensures that aircraft never fly over the mall at low altitude. It is the largest 'origin and destination' (O&D) airport for Northwest Airlines (which is now a part of Delta Air Lines), Delta Connection partners Compass Airlines, Mesaba Airlines, and Pinnacle Airlines, in terms of passengers carried and revenues^[3] (all but Compass and Pinnacle having headquarters nearby), the airport is Northwest Airlines busiest hub overall. It also serves as the hub for Sun Country Airlines. Northwest Airlines accounts for more than 80% of the airport's passenger traffic. It is operated by the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which also handles operation of six smaller airports in the region.

The airport first came into being when several local groups came together to take control of the former bankrupt Twin City Speedway race track, giving the airport its original name, Speedway Field. Soon after, in 1921, the airport was renamed Wold-Chamberlain Field for the World War I pilots Ernest Groves Wold and Cyrus Foss Chamberlain. In 1944, the site was renamed to Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airport/Wold-Chamberlain Field, with "International" replacing "Metropolitan" four years later. The current Charles Lindbergh terminal building was built in 1962, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Terminal was built in 2001. Today, it is very rare to see the Wold-Chamberlain portion of the name used anywhere. In 1938 Howard Hughes briefly stopped at Wold-Chamberlain Field on his round the world flight.

[edit] Description

Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport has two terminals, both of which are named for famous Minnesotans: the Lindbergh Terminal (named after the aviator Charles Lindbergh) and the much smaller Humphrey Terminal (named for former US Vice President Hubert Humphrey). Lindbergh Terminal officially has seven concourses, lettered A-G, with the Humphrey terminal labeled as Concourse H. However, this may change in the future, since future expansion plans call for the adding of a Concourse H to the Lindbergh Terminal.

Like many other airports, MSP interconnects with several other forms of transportation. Several large parking ramps are available for cars. Most other connections are made at the Hub Building and adjacent Transit Center, which has city and shuttle bus, taxi, light-rail, and rental car service. Two trams (people movers) are at the airport. One carries passengers from the main section of Lindbergh Terminal to the Hub Building, and another runs along the long Concourse C in that terminal.

Aerial view of MSP International Airport.

The airport is near Fort Snelling, the site of one of the earliest European settlements in the area. Both the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers flow nearby. Minnesota State Highway 5 provides the closest entrance to the Lindbergh Terminal, just a short distance from Interstate 494. The Humphrey Terminal is accessed via the 34th Avenue exit from I-494, which runs past Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Northwest Airlines has hangars arranged along I-494 and 34th Avenue, so it's possible to see airliners undergoing maintenance while driving past.

The Hiawatha Line light-rail has stops at both the Hub Building (Lindbergh Station) and Humphrey Terminal (Humphrey Station). It connects the airport with downtown Minneapolis as well as with the Mall of America in nearby Bloomington, and operates as a shuttle service between the two airport terminals. Travelers can use the rail line to go between the two sites at all times of day— it is the only part of the line that operates continuously through the night (the rest shuts down for about four hours early in the morning). Passengers going between the two terminals may ride free of charge, but those riding beyond the airport grounds must pay a standard fare. Two parallel tunnels for the line run roughly 70 feet (20 meters) below the airport, and at 1.7 miles (2.7 km) in length are the longest tunnels on the route. The Lindbergh Terminal station is the only one underground on the line, as the rails return to the surface near Humphrey Terminal. Due to current concerns about terrorism, a great deal of effort went into ensuring that the tunnels are highly blast-resistant. The underground portion was the costliest section of the rail project.

Northwest Airlines has expanded operations at the airport over the years. In the past, Northwest and others have proposed moving out of MSP airport and building a new airport on the fringes of the Twin Cities metro area to handle large jets and international traffic. Minneapolis and other neighboring cities were concerned that such a move would have a negative economic impact, so an arrangement was made where the Metropolitan Airports Commission would outfit many homes in the vicinity of the airport with sound insulation and air conditioning so that indoor noise could be reduced. A citizen group named ROAR (Residents Opposed to Airport Racket) was created in 1998 and helped push the MAC to make these concessions. Later, in 2004, the MAC voted to reduce funding for the soundproofing projects, stating in part that the economic climate had turned in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, who had been a founding member of ROAR, promised that the city would challenge the funding changes.

The 1970 disaster film Airport was partially filmed at MSP, filling in for a fictional Chicago airport. It was followed by several sequels and was a prototype for many disaster films that followed. The airport used colors as the method for naming different concourses for many years, a convention that was duplicated in the movie. Starting in 2000, MSP switched to lettered concourses, which has become standard practice at airports around the world. The color names still survive as the names for the Lindbergh Terminal parking ramp wings.

The Humphrey Terminal used to have all the international flight arrivals but is now used for charter airlines and other carriers. Icelandair started service to Minneapolis/ST. Paul from Reykjavik in 1998. Northwest operated flights from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Hong Kong and Osaka in 1998 using 747-400 aircraft, but in the same year were dropped. Northwest also operated Minneapolis/St. Paul to Oslo and Frankfurt service using DC-10 aircraft, but were also dropped. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, KLM operated 747 and MD-11 service from Amsterdam to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Northwest and KLM have a codeshare agreement on this route. KLM hasn't served Minneapolis/St. Paul with its own aircraft since 2003.

Aeromexico has been granted permission by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) to start non-stop Mexico City-Minneapolis/St. Paul service, but Aeromexico has not made an announcement about service to Minneapolis/St. Paul. The city of Minneapolis would like to give incentives to Lufthansa to start Frankfurt, Germany-Minneapolis/St. Paul service non-stop. In 1999 British Airways was considering starting non-stop service from its London Gatwick or London Heathrow hub to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Northwest Airlines has considered starting non-stop Minneapolis/St. Paul-Shanghai service using new Boeing 787 aircraft in 2009. Kenya Airways and the Metropolitan Airports Commission were in talks about starting Nairobi-Paris-Minneapolis/St. Paul service. In 2000, British Midland sent an application to the DOT to start non-stop service from Manchester International Airport and London Heathrow to Minneapolis/St. Paul. This year the Metropolitan Airports Commission has talked with British Airways, Aeromexico and Lufthansa about service to Minneapolis. Great Lakes Airlines announced intentions to start service to Minneapolis/St. Paul from Brookings, South Dakota.

[edit] MSP 2020 Vision

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One of the trams at MSP pulling into a station.

In 2004, Northwest Airlines proposed expanding the Lindbergh Terminal to accommodate growing flight operations in a plan known as the MSP 2020 Vision. The proposed expansion included moving all airlines other than Northwest and its SkyTeam alliance airline partners to the Humphrey Terminal. This reignited concerns about Northwest Airlines' control of the Minneapolis-St. Paul commercial air service market with some claiming that Northwest uses its market position to inflate airfares. While AirTran Airways voiced opposition to the plan, American Airlines and United Airlines remained neutral on the move since both had exclusive terminals at their own main hubs. In May 2005, the MAC approved the plan with the following conditions:

• The Humphrey Terminal will be expanded to 22 gates, over double its current size
• Another parking ramp will be constructed at Humphrey
• Northwest and other SkyTeam airlines will have exclusive rights to the entire Lindbergh Terminal
• Non-SkyTeam airlines will use the Humphrey Terminal
• Concourse C will be converted into a regional jet terminal
• A new Concourse H will be built on the site of the current NWA Building B

The move was planned to take place in 2007, but with the bankruptcy of Northwest and Mesaba, the expansion plan has been delayed. However, certain aspects of the plan have been implemented or are currently in progress, such as the moving of Midwest Airlines, AirTran Airways, and Icelandair to the Humphrey Terminal, and the construction of an additional parking ramp at the Humphrey Terminal.

[edit] Terminals, airlines, and destinations

[edit] Lindbergh Terminal

[edit] Concourse A

[edit] Concourse B

[edit] Concourse C

Originally, Concourses C and D were the Green Concourse.

[edit] Concourse D

Originally, Concourses C and D were the Green Concourse.

[edit] Concourse E

Originally, Concourse E was the Blue Concourse. Concourse E is the only concourse of the Lindbergh Terminal serving airlines other than Delta/Northwest.

¹: Check-in for Air Canada Jazz is processed at United Airlines counters.

²: Ground Handling for Alaska Airlines is provided by American Airlines.

[edit] Concourse F

Originally, Concourse F was the Red Concourse.

[edit] Concourse G

Originally, Concourse G was the Gold Concourse.

[edit] Humphrey Terminal

Scheduled

Charter

[edit] Cargo carriers

[edit] Military facilities

The Minneapolis-Saint Paul Air Reserve Station at MSP is home to the 934th Airlift Wing (934 AW), an Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) unit, and the 133d Airlift Wing (133 AW) of the Minnesota Air National Guard. Both units fly the C-130 Hercules and are operationally-gained by the Air Mobility Command (AMC). The 934th consists of over 1,300 military personnel, of which approximately 250 are full-time Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) and Air Reserve Technician (ART) personnel. The 133rd is similarly manned, making for a total military presence of over 2,600 full-time and part-time personnel.

The 934 AW serves as the "host" wing for the installation, which also includes lodging/billeting, officers club, Base Exchange (BX) and other morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) facilities for active, reserve/national guard and retired military personnel and their families.

[edit] Runways

Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport has four runways:

• Runway 4/22: 11,000 x 150 ft. (3,354 x 46 m), Surface: Concrete
• Runway 12R/30L: 10,000 x 200 ft. (3,048 x 61 m), Surface: Asphalt/Concrete
• Runway 12L/30R: 8,200 x 150 ft. (2,499 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt/Concrete [closed till end of October]
• Runway 17/35: 8,000 x 150 ft. (2,438 x 46 m), Surface: Concrete

A number of buildings (including hangars) were demolished to make way for the runway protection zone of the new 17/35 runway, and plans for expansion at the Mall of America have been hampered by its construction.^{[citation needed]} The 17/35 opened in October 2005. Aircraft landing on runway 35 fly slightly east of the Mall of America, overfly Interstate 494, and land only seconds later. Due to noise concerns from South Minneapolis, between 13 August 2007 and 18 October 2007 it was used regularly due to construction on runway 12R/30L.

[edit] See also

• Minnesota World War II Army Airfields

[edit] References

• FAA Airport Master Record for MSP (Form 5010 PDF)
• MSP International Airport (official web site)
• Minneapolis NWA's biggest hub (see page 21)

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

United States Air Force portal

Military of the United States portal

• Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, official website
• Minnesota Airport Directory: Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (Wold-Chamberlain Field)PDF (245 KB)
• MAC Noise Homepage (official -- interactive maps of flights and noise data)
• Live Air Traffic Control streams including MSP
• FAA Airport Diagram(PDF), effective 22 Oct 2009
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KMSP
  • ASN accident history for MSP
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KMSP
  • FAA current MSP delay information

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