It wasn’t all that long ago this major international airline added non-stop service to Minnesota, but it just announced that it is leaving our fair state.
Outside of perhaps death and taxes, there is one other constant in the world: change. And in the complicated world of commercial airlines, it seems that change IS pretty constant, including the new announcement that this airline will soon be ending service to the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) is the largest airport in the North Star State. So it’s no surprise that a LOT of Minnesotans (and Iowans and Wisconsinites and others) head through the TSA checkpoints at MSP each year.
MSP says airlines served 156 nonstop destinations from the North Star State in 2023, up from 145 destinations in 2022. And, of course, MSP also noted that it was once again named the best airport in North America for the third year in a row, and for the seventh time in the last eight years.
Did you know that 19 different airlines fly in and out of MSP in Bloomington? Take a look at this list:
+ Aer Lingus
+ Air Canada
+ AirFrance
+ Alaska Airlines
+ Allegiant Airlines
+ American Airlines
+ Condor Airlines
+ Delta Air Lines
+ Denver Air
+ Frontier Airlines
+ Icelandair
+ JetBlue Airlines
+ KLM Airlines
+ Lufthansa Airlines
+ Spirit Airlines
+ Southwest Airlines
+ Sun Country Airlines
+ United Airlines
+ WestJet
However, one of the names on that list will soon be going away, because Lufthansa just said it is ending its non-stop service from Minneapolis to Frankfurt, Germany next year, meaning the service didn’t even last a year. Flights on that route debuted in June 2024 but won’t make it to June 2025. That’s the word from the travel site, The Points Guy, who said the German-based airline would discontinue offering that flight as of April 26, 2025.
The reason, apparently, is that Lufthansa doesn’t have enough planes to keep the flight running. There *will* still be direct international service from the Land of 10,000 Lakes to Germany, however, as The Points Guy said Lufthansa will ‘hand the route over to its low-cost subsidiary Discover Airlines for the foreseeable future.’
Seeing as so many visitors check in and out of the Land of 10,000 Lakes through MSP, there are some signs, though, that can point out just which travelers are Minnesota natives: Because they know how to correctly pronounce the following names that are unique to our state. Keep scrolling to see how many YOU know how to say.
Listen to Curt St. John & Samm Adams
weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5
Only True Minnesotans Know How to Pronounce These Names
Are you a TRUE Minnesotan? If so, you won’t even have to guess how to correctly pronounce the following names of cities and towns here in Minnesota. Take a look– how many do YOU know how to say?
Gallery Credit: Curt St. John