Humphrey Terminal

The current Humphrey Terminal was opened in May of 2001. It was designed primarily to house the airport’s charter airlines. The terminal is home three scheduled airlines, AirTran Airways, Icelandair, Southwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines. These airlines share the terminal with the airport’s charter airlines operators. The Humphrey Terminal was built with the possibility of expanding to up to 16 gates to accommodate future growth and the possibility of new airline service.

The Humphrey Terminal provides a less congested and sometimes cheaper alternative to the Lindbergh Terminal. The airport’s charter airlines also exclusively use the Humphrey Terminal. Peak season for Twin Cities charters is from December to April with most charters going to warm holiday destinations to the south. For this reason, traffic at the terminal peaks around March and is slowest in the fall months.

Humphrey Terminal Parking Ramp

Initial plans for the Humphrey Terminal called for two parking ramps on site. The first parking ramp opened on October 22, 2002. The second ramp for the Humphrey Terminal was planned to open in 2004, at the same time as the light-rail line servicing the airport. However, due to the downturn in the aviation industry after 9/11/01, work on the second ramp was halted before construction began.

MAC approved the construction of a second parking ramp on site as a part of the 2006-2012 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The second ramp is located closer to the terminal’s light-rail station. The eight story ramp adds 4,276 vehicle spaces. Construction on the parking ramp began in September of 2006 and was completed in July 2008.

Employees of airlines and airport businesses use the Humphrey Terminal parking ramp for employee parking during most of the year. During at least 3 months of the year, however, employee parking is moved to a service lot off of Post Rd., between the two airport terminals. The new parking ramp allows for year-round employee parking with 2,150 vehicle spots allocated to airport/airline employees.

Humphrey Terminal Expansion 2020

If the Humphrey Terminal is expanded, as planned under the MSP 2020 Vision Plan, a second skyway will be added to connect the expanded terminal to the new parking ramp and the terminal’s light-rail station. The skyway will provide climate controlled access to the new parking ramp and the light-rail station. Expected to be included in the skyway enclosure will be moving sidewalks to shorten walking distances.

In 2004, Northwest Airlines proposed the MSP 2020 Vision Plan which expands both the Humphrey and Lindbergh Terminals to accommodate growth at the airport. For more information on proposed expansion of the Humphrey Terminal, visit the Humphrey Terminal 2020 Page.

Graphics on this page were produced by Miller Dunwiddie Architecture for the Metropolitan Airports Commission. Edited for clarity.

Content originally written and published by Timothy Hannan.