The Golden Arches are returning to Minneapolis-St. Paul International after a two-year absence.
Construction on a new 1,800-square-foot McDonald's near the entrance to Concourse D in Terminal 1 is nearly complete, and the restaurant is set to open by the end of October, airport officials said Monday.
McDonald's served its last Big Mac at MSP in 2011 when two outlets closed because Delta Air Lines did not renew their leases. At the time, Delta said McDonald's did not fit into the vision for Concourse G, which the airline controls.
"A new McDonald's has been travelers' most frequent restaurant request," said Jeff Mamiel, executive director and CEO of the Metropolitan Airports Commission. "We've been working with McDonald's since that time to find a suitable location for the restaurant's return."
The new store owned and operated by Courtney Henry will employ up to 60 people and be open 24 hours.
"We're very happy to be back at the airport and extremely pleased that ther has been such great demand for McDonald's return soon," Henry said.
To draw attention to its return, McDonalds will offer special grand opening offers in the November/December issue of the airports "MSP Eat, Shop, Relax" coupon book and on the airport's Twitter feeds, @mspairport.
