MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (both D-MN) announced that the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport received the final funding amount necessary to complete the airport’s improvements to Concourse G. This grant, made possible through the Biden-Harris Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will expand the Terminal 1 building on Concourse G from Gates 8 –13 to include 5 new single use restrooms and 2 new multi-user restrooms, terminal passenger seating, and energy efficient spaces.
“Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is among the busiest airports in the country and supports tens of thousands of jobs in our state,” said Senator Klobuchar. “This significant federal funding will enable the airport to fund the expansion of Terminal 1 to improve the travel experience for passengers and maintain its position as a top-ranking airport.”
“MSP is a critical transportation hub and economic driver for communities across Minnesota. There’s a reason it’s been ranked the best airport in America so often, and we hope to keep it that way,” said Senator Smith. “The Concourse G upgrades have been years in the making. This investment will make sure MSP remains one of the best airports in the world and has the capacity to meet demand, and I’m proud to have supported the Biden-Harris Bipartisan infrastructure law to make this happen.”
“We work hard to provide exceptional airport experiences for our travelers, and a big part of that is ensuring that MSP facilities keep pace with capacity demands while also meeting and exceeding expectations for quality and accessibility,” said Brian Ryks, CEO and executive director of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns and operates MSP Airport. “The $20 million in funding allocated through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help us move ahead with important expansion and development of Concourse G in Terminal 1. We are grateful for the ongoing support of Senator Smith and Senator Klobuchar and their work to help ensure a positive travel experience for Minnesotans.”
MSP Airport’s Concourse G improvements began in earnest in 2020. The airport began:
- Reconfiguring and adding to the gate-hold seating areas
- Reconstructing and expanding the restrooms
- Removing and replacing the adjacent moving walkways
- Renovating the food, beverage and retail offerings
This $20 million grant was made possible through the Biden-Harris infrastructure bill, which Senator Smith and Senator Klobuchar both supported. The grant was awarded through the FAA’s Airport Terminals Program, which received a $5 billion boost through the infrastructure law. The program funds safe, sustainable and accessible airport terminals, on-airport rail access projects and airport-owned traffic control towers.
Several investments have been made in Minnesota’s largest airport since President Biden signed the infrastructure legislation that Klobuchar and Smith helped pass, including two new gates at Terminal 2 (H15 and H16), five new boarding bridges, new electrical substations for baggage claim, the north security checkpoint, and airport police, as well as new walkways, ramps, and slopes to support passengers with disabilities.
You can find renderings of what the final result of the upgrades to Concourse G will look like here.
###
English