Minneapolis Building A Better Airport

<B> Minneapolis Building A Better Airport</B>

By Frank Rosci

Major construction and improvements at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport through a plan dubbed "MSP 2010: Building a Better Airport" promise to make business travel to the Twin Cities more efficient, according to Jeff Hamiel, executive director of Metropolitan Airports Commission.

Designed to meet the region's demand for passenger service (MSP served 30.3 million people in 1998 and is projected to serve more than 40 million by 2010), the $2 billion program will cover airfield improvements--including new and lengthened runways--construction of a new terminal, expanded parking and rental car facilities, and a light rail transit system.

Construction on the new Humphrey Terminal is set to begin next month. The 300,000-sq.-ft. terminal, a replacement for the existing Humphrey Terminal, is expected to open in the first quarter of 2001 with eight jet gates. Space exists for expansion of up to 18 jet gates.

In May, the airport's 3,500-sq.-ft. Pierson M. Grieve Conference Center opened with eight conference rooms and four workstations. All rooms in the center, the largest of which accommodates up to 100 attendees, are equipped with dataports, and LCD projectors and other meeting equipment can be rented. Standard business services, such as printing/copying, notary, secretarial support, mail/package delivery and catering to all conference guests also are provided.

"Business travelers and small groups can fly into the Twin Cities, meet and fly out without ever leaving the airport, thus maximizing their time," said Pierson M. Grieve, former MAC chairman.

Runway work at the airport will include reconstruction of the 10,000-ft. south parallel runway by September, a new 8,000-ft. north/south runway, expected to be operational in October 2003, and an additional 1,000 feet for the crosswind runway by fall 2000. Gate capacity will be increased with the construction of the first four of 12 new jet gates on the Green concourse.

Expansion also will include a new food court and retail rotunda, more moving sidewalks, an automated concourse shuttle, a new regional concourse, and connection to a skyway that will bridge airport roadways between the Green and Gold concourses, while linking the two areas. These projects are scheduled for completion in 2002.

Construction continues on the new, nine-level parking and rental car facility, which will add 6,500 new spaces to the airport's capacity. Nearly 2,000 spaces will be ready this summer, with the remainder set for completion in fall 2000.

In related airport news, Sun Country Airlines last month began scheduled, low-fare service to 12 destinations nationwide, including New York, Washington, D.C., and the West Coast. The airline will anchor at the new Humphrey Terminal when it is completed.

And the ariport's international service by Icelandair, which began in April 1998, has proven a great success, said Peter Hedlund, vice president of sales at the Greater Minneapolis Convention & Visitors Association. "Icelandair offers travelers an option to Northwest and KLM for convenient travel between Minneapolis and Europe," he said. In all, the airline offers service to 20 destinations in Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and Europe.

Overall, Hedlund added, "business travel to the city is up, and room rates, which had risen over the past few years, should begin to level off now that our inventory of rooms has increased." While the first quarter of the year has been traditionally soft in Minneapolis (in the mid-50s), occupancies still average 70 percent for the year. Hedlund said business travelers from the financial, high-tech, medical and Asian markets, who figure prominently in the mix of the city's major meetings, help fill the hotels after the first quarter.

Across the Mississippi River in Saint Paul, renovation on two downtown hotels will begin this fall. All 475 guest rooms of the Radisson Hotel will be completely remodeled by spring 2000, and the 200-room Days Inn at RiverCentre, St. Paul's sparkling new, $83 million convention, trade show and conference complex, will undergo a complete renovation.

Business travel to Minneapolis-St. Paul has increased, agreed a spokesperson for the Saint Paul CVB. With private investment in the city booming and major corporations expanding their businesses, building new office towers and renovating existing buildings, it's likely the up trend will continue, she said.