Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport

Ground was broken for the current Terminal 1 building on October 26, 1958.[11] The US $8.5 million, 600,000 square foot (56,000 m²) terminal with 24 gates on two concourses was designed by Lyle George Landstrom.[12] who worked for Cerny Associates. The terminal, then referred to as the New Terminal, was completed on January 13, 1962, and operations began on January 21.[11][13] Pier D (formerly the Gold Concourse, now Concourse G) was completed in 1971 and Pier A (formerly the Green Concourse, now Concourse C) was completed in 1972 as part of an expansion of the terminal designed by Cerny Associates.[13][14] This project also involved rebuilding the existing concourses into bi-level structures equipped with holding rooms and jet bridges.[13] The Gold Concourse was expanded in 1986 and included the airport's first moving walkway.[11] Concourses A and B opened on June 1, 2002, as part of a $250 million terminal expansion designed by Minneapolis-based Architectural Alliance.[15] The final component of the project included a $17.5 million extension of Concourse C consisting of six additional gates, which opened on October 31, 2002.[16]

Terminal 2 was first built in 1986 and then rebuilt in 2001. It is used mostly for charter and low cost airlines, including Minnesota-based Sun Country and Southwest, but is also used for Condor, Icelandair and JetBlue. The terminal has since been expanded and has a total of 14 gates. The colored labeling system for concourses in both terminals was replaced beginning in 2000 with the current system of lettered concourses.

Due in part to aircraft noise in south Minneapolis, the Highland Park neighborhood in St. Paul, and surrounding suburbs, proposals were made in the 1990s to build a new airport on the fringes of the Twin Cities metro in Dakota County to handle larger jets and more international traffic.[17] Minneapolis, St. Paul, 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, saying in part that the economic climate had turned in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak, who had been a founding member of ROAR, promised that the city would challenge the changes. In 2005, the cities of Minneapolis, Eagan, and Richfield and the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority filed a lawsuit against the MAC, which was settled with a Consent Decree in 2007. The terms in the Consent Decree specified levels of sound insulation for homes within a fixed boundary of projected aircraft noise exposure around MSP. Upon the completion of the noise mitigation program in 2014, more than 15,000 single-family homes and 3,303 multi-family units around MSP were provided noise mitigation at cost of $95 million.[18]

A 2022 J.D. Power survey concluded that with ranking the largest US and Canadian airports on a 1,000 point scale based on traveler satisfaction, the airport received a score of 800, ranking it the best airport in the US and Canada. MSP's high ranking was accredited to its recently updated facilities.[19]

Delta A220-300 landing at MSP with a Delta 757-200 taxiing in the foreground.

Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport has two terminals with a total of 131 gates.[20]

• Terminal 1 (Lindbergh) contains 117 gates across seven concourses, lettered A–G.[20]
• Terminal 2 (Humphrey) contains 14 gates across one concourse, lettered H.[21]

International arrivals are processed in Concourse G in Terminal 1, and in Terminal 2.[20]

The two terminals are located about one mile (1.6 km) apart and accessed from separate exits of Minnesota State Highway 5. The arrangement can be confusing for some drivers, since no roads directly connect the terminals, meaning that taking the wrong exit can cause a delay of several minutes. In 2010, signage along Highway 5 was updated to make it more clear which airlines serve each terminal.[22][23]

Terminal 1 is named after aviator Charles Lindbergh, who was raised in Minnesota and Terminal 2 is named after vice president Hubert Humphrey, who represented Minnesota in Congress.

The terminal buildings are directly located off of Minnesota State Highway 5. Several other major highways that border the airport are Minnesota State Highway 62, Minnesota State Highway 77, and Interstate 494.

Metro Transit, the region's public transportation provider, operates the Blue Line, a light rail route, on the airport grounds. Travelers can use the line to connect between the two terminals. No fare is charged for passengers only travelling between Terminal 1 and 2, and service between the terminals operates all day (the rest of the line shuts down for about four hours overnight).[24] Beyond the airport, the Blue Line travels to downtown Minneapolis and the Mall of America in nearby Bloomington. Metro Transit also operates bus route 54 to Terminal 1.

The Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Joint 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.