Southwest Airlines to Begin Serving Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

Announcement Follows Years of Effort by Metropolitan Airports Commission

Low-fare giant Southwest Airlines today announced it will begin serving Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) in March 2009, with service to Chicago’s Midway Airport.

From Chicago, Southwest travelers can catch flights to nearly 50 cities throughout the United States.

“Southwest Airlines’ long-sought decision to begin service to Minneapolis-St. Paul International promises tremendous benefits to the airport, to Minnesota, and to the Upper Midwest region,” said Jack Lanners, chairman of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns and operates MSP. “Competition helps keep air fares low and provides options to travelers to and from Minnesota.

“The Metropolitan Airports Commission has worked for more than a decade to gain service from Southwest Airlines,” Lanners said. “We met numerous times with Southwest leaders in Minneapolis, Dallas, and elsewhere, provided tours of our newly expanded airport, and successfully made the case that the Twin Cities are an ideal location for Southwest service,” Lanners said.

“Perhaps most important, despite a recently completed $3 billion expansion program, we have managed to keep the airport’s cost structure for airlines among the lowest in the industry. We also incorporated safeguards into our leases to ensure we have gates and facilities available to air carriers that want to begin and grow service at Minneapolis-St. Paul International. I am confident Southwest’s service will be very successful here and look forward to helping the airline get established and grow in this market.”

Contacts

Metropolitan Airports Commission
Patrick Hogan, 612-726-5335