Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Service Animal Policies

Assistance animals are welcome to travel with passengers who have disabilities. Certain exemptions are provided to these animals, but some rules and restrictions still apply. To determine if your dog qualifies to be certified as a Psychiatric Service Dog and can be accepted as such for air travel, you can visit Pettable’s PSD service.

Minneapolis-St. Paul Pet Relief Areas

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport provides eight pet relief areas in total. Terminal 1 has three pre-security location and three post-security stations. Terminal 2 has one pre-security and one post-security location. The MSP Airport pet policy requires that all non-service animals be kept in kennels while in the airport’s facilities. Fortunately, this doesn’t count trips to the animal relief areas, but animals should still be leashed while using these facilities.


MSP Airport Pet Cargo Facilities

The Minneapolis-St. Paul airport pet policy states that animals can travel in one of three ways. The first and easiest is reserved for the smallest pets; those able to fit in your lap or under your seat may be allowed to ride in the cabin. If your animal is too large, you will need to choose to fly him as either checked baggage or cargo. The former is relatively simple; drop off your pet at flight check-in and collect him at excess baggage claim upon arrival. As always, the airport recommends contacting your airline for pet-specific policies.  

If your airline does not offer a checked baggage option, your dog will need to fly as cargo. The Minneapolis-St. Paul pet policy requires all animal owners to independently collect their dogs at an airline-specific cargo building. Most of these facilities are clustered in the southwestern quadrant of the airport’s campus, just along I-494. Though still part of the airport, there is no shuttle service to these buildings. It is therefore imperative that pet owners arrange private transportation when picking up or dropping of their animals.  

Delta Airlines Cargo
7200 34th Avenue South
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN 55450
800-352-2746 

Alaska Air Cargo
7550 23rd Avenue South
Bloomington, MN 55450
800-225-2752 

Southwest Airlines Cargo
7550 22nd Avenue South
Suite 126
Minneapolis, MN 55450
800-533-1222 

American Airlines Cargo
7550 23rd Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55450
800-227-4622 

United Airlines Cargo
7550 23rd Avenue 
Minneapolis, MN 55450
800-822-2746 

For a full list of the airport’s supported cargo airlines, see their website 

More Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Pet Policies

Pet owners traveling through Minneapolis/St. Paul should heed caution in the winter months. If temperatures dip below 35 degrees (or rise above 85), your airline may determine the conditions to be unsafe for animal travel in the cargo hold. When traveling with a pet, you should always track the weather forecast. To avoid situations like this, we recommend avoiding this airport for cargo pet travel during the winter months.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport recently introduced a pet-friendly initiative called Now Boarding. Passengers unable to secure private animal boarding options are provided the opportunity to board at the airport. Located on the airport’s property, Now Boarding allows pet parents to drop off their animals, park, and take a shuttle straight to the airport.  

Though this inclusion changes very little about the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport’s pet policy, it provides a Plan B if your animal is refused service for any reason. If you get to the gate only to realize Fido is too large to ride with you, he can stay at New Boarding. Too cold to fly your animal as checked baggage? Now Boarding is available 24 hours per day and seven days a week.  

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