Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Traffic Expected To Increase For 2010

ST. PAUL  (AP) -- Passenger traffic is expected to increase at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport this year.

That would be the first increase since 2005.

November passenger traffic jumped nearly 8 percent from the year-ago period and total passenger traffic for the first 11 months of this year is up nearly one percent.

Airport spokesman Pat Hogan says December is expected to be up five to seven percent over last December.

Last year, 32.4 million passengers got on and off planes there, down 14 percent from 2005 levels.

But the Twin Cities' dominant carrier, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, reported its second profitable quarter in a row in October.

Company officials said they expect the first profitable fourth quarter in a decade this year.

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