The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) announced Thursday that it has begun work on an expansion of Terminal 2 that will bear fruit this fall with two new gates followed by two more by 2027. MAC CEO Brian Ryks cites record demand in Q1—with passenger boardings up 10% year over year—by the terminal’s year-round tenant airlines: Allegiant, Frontier, Sun Country, and Southwest. (Condor and Icelandair are summer tenants, while JetBlue is leaving the market in October.)

The primary driver of the $263 million investment, though, is Sun Country, whose operating model is a bank of early morning flights to the coasts, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Some of those planes return midday and cycle to a domestic destination, returning late at night or on a red eye. The airline needs more overnight 737 parking at MSP and more gates at T2 to grow its peak-season service, from Christmas to Easter. The airline is not gate constrained at other times of year.

“The challenge is to accommodate Sun Country’s growth given their operating patterns. I’ve asked our staff to be creative in the near term,” says Ryks. “Busy/slow is a challenge for us. We’ve acquired a modeling software that helps us optimize those periods of white space.”

MAC creativity has resulted in a plan to add two jet bridges this fall on Sun Country’s side of T2 adjacent to gate H1. They are coming from Delta’s C concourse, where it is reducing the number of gates to accommodate larger aircraft. The MAC is also adapting the international baggage claim at T2 to flex for domestic flights. Ryks says two more gates and 168,000 square feet of space will then be added to the Southwest Airlines (north) side of T2 by early 2027. (There are long-term plans for 17 more gates at T2, but no firm timeline has been established.)

One of the risks for the MAC in focusing a large capital project primarily around a single airline is the volatility of the industry. Airlines have pivoted from capacity constrained to glutted in a year and are reporting declining profits as a result. Southwest is planning to shrink its national schedule.

“We never want to be in a position where we can’t serve an airline due to capacity,” Ryks explains, “but we don’t control the industry, which seems to reset every seven to 10 years. If you overbuild, your costs go up, and airlines don’t like that.”

Sun Country appreciates the confidence the airport has shown. “MSP is a fantastic asset, forward-thinking,” CEO Jude Bricker told TCB for an upcoming cover story. “More gates allow us more flying. Our model depends on this pattern of flying.” But he is quick to note that the airport’s focus “has to be on keeping external costs under control.” (Airlines pay fees for using the airport. Each flight and gate adds cost.)