AIR TRAVEL
Monthly airport passenger volume plummeted in April 2020 during strict stay-at-home orders and international travel restrictions, and then increased slowly during the second half of 2020. The number of monthly passengers has increased throughout most of 2021, but passenger traffic has declined two of the last three months in 2021.
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WHAT THE DATA IS TELLING US The total number of airport passengers at MSP International Airport in February 2022 was 2,095,143. Passenger travel decreased by 5% from January as COVID cases declined and spring break travel began. Passenger volumes at MSP are up by 87% from February 2021 as airline travel continues to recover from the pandemic. Still, the number of monthly passengers remains 20% lower than 2019 (pre-COVID) levels. The earliest signal of impact from COVID on air travel was in March 2020 when monthly total passengers fell to 1,788,111, a 49.5% decline from the same month in 2019. After dropping to only 151,483 total passengers in April, passenger totals improved month-over-month through the summer, and remained above one million in the fall and winter. Airline operations and passenger activity at the MSP International Airport continues to recover. Passenger travel overall for 2021 was up by 70% from 2020, from 14.9 million passengers to 25.2 million, but still 36% less than 2019, when 39.5 million passengers came through the airport. Complete recovery to 2019 levels is expected to take two to three years. |
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This metric tracks the total number of passengers who departed (enplaned) or arrived (deplaned) via a commercial passenger airline flight at the MSP International Airport over the month. Data is updated monthly and provided by the Metropolitan Airports Commission.
WHY THIS MATTERS TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY:
The air travel industry was one of the most severely impacted by the COVID19 pandemic, as air travel dropped considerably as a result of public health concern and policies, most notably federal, state and international restrictions on visitors, and stay-at-home orders administered to control the spread of COVID-19. The Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport is a major economic engine and employer in the region and is a critical component for our regional economic competitiveness. Many of our region’s businesses rely on convenient and dependable air service to transport cargo and employees for major business operations. Trends in total passenger activity are a strong indicator of the level at which the air travel industry is recovering from the economic effects of the pandemic.
TELLING THE FULL STORY:
In addition to passenger activity, it is important to also track active and suspended route activity. The number of active routes at MSP increased each month from April and in August reached its highest level of active routes in since the onset of effects from the pandemic in April of 2020. Over the last three months the number of active routes at MSP has decreased. As of December, MSP has active direct service for 200 routes while direct service for 30 routes remained suspended due to COVID. Notable international routes that remain suspended include London, Seoul, and Tokyo due to ongoing government restrictions and low demand. Service for each is scheduled to resume in the spring of 2022.
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HOW WE STACK UP:
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on air travel have been significant across the country but differ across regions. To understand the relative intensity of COVID-19 impact and the pace of recovery, we are comparing monthly airport passenger activity for the MSP region’s peers, a set of regions selected based on demographic and economic characteristics. The same peer regions are tracked in the Regional Indicators Dashboard, a set of indicators that track MSP’s long-term economic competitiveness.
To compare air travel recovery, we are comparing the number of monthly airport passengers for the most current month to the same month one year ago, and the same month in 2019 (pre-COVID). According to January data tracked for major airports in MSP’s peer regions, all peer regions are seeing significant increases in passenger levels in relation to January 2021 levels, when the pandemic’s effects were still quite heavy in limiting air travel. However, all regions are also still experiencing passenger levels lower than pre-COVID (January 2020) levels. MSP’s 27.1% decline in passengers from January 2019 is in the middle of the peer set, showing more significant recovery than San Francisco (SFO), Portland (PDX), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Denver (DEN), Pittsburgh, Chicago (MDW), and Boston (BOS). Regions with airports seeing the strongest recovery include Austin (AUS) and Charlotte (CLT).
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Source: Data comes directly from the primary airport in each peer region.
HOW TO LEARN MORE:
The Regional Air Services Partnership is a partnership of the Metropolitan Airport Commission, GREATER MSP, and more than 30 notable businesses working together to enhance globally competitive air service at the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport.
The Metropolitan Airports Commission publishes monthly operations and passenger reports with detailed operational data for the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport.
The Transportation Security Administration publishes daily passenger throughput data for each airport and checkpoint operating in the United States.
Want to share insights from the Regional Recovery Hub in your own presentations and materials? Download the Recovery Toolkit.