Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport could soon become a proper home for Delta's flagship widebody. According to a report citing aviation insider JonNYC, Delta told staff internally that it plans to open an Airbus A350 base at MSP in February 2027 — a move that would give the Upper Midwest its first dedicated squadron of the long-haul jet rather than the occasional aircraft reshuffled in from Detroit.

Delta already dominates MSP, holding roughly 71% of the market and moving more than 24.6 million passengers in the year to May 2026. Its nearest rival is homegrown low-cost carrier Sun Country, which handles around 11% of flights. Today the airport sees a mix of A220s, A321s and A330s, with A350s only appearing seasonally on routes to Seoul Incheon, Tokyo Haneda and Amsterdam.

A permanent A350 base matters because it opens the door to new long-haul routes and upgrades on existing ones. Delta currently flies internationally from Minneapolis to Copenhagen, Dublin, London Heathrow, Paris, Reykjavik, Rome, Seoul and Tokyo — and its busiest overseas markets are Amsterdam, Cancun and Paris, with Denver, Chicago and Phoenix topping the domestic list. The A350 burns about 25% less fuel than older-generation jets, which makes marginal long-haul routes more viable. Since the pandemic, MSP has held steady at around 34-35 million annual passengers, so there's little room for expansion without bigger aircraft.

For flyers, the aircraft itself is the draw. Delta's A350-900 fleet has grown past 40 airframes with 18 more on order, plus 20 of the larger A350-1000s in the pipeline. At the front, the Delta One Suite offers a private room with full-height doors and a flat bed; Premium Select gets you up to 38 inches of pitch and a seven-inch recline; and even Main Cabin includes seatback entertainment, high-speed WiFi and USB-C and AC power at every seat.

Delta hasn't publicly confirmed the plan — the outlet couldn't reach a spokesperson for comment — so treat the early-2027 date as likely but not locked in. Still, with Delta's hub strategy centered on Atlanta, New York JFK and Salt Lake City, formalizing a widebody base in Minnesota would be a clear signal that the Twin Cities are moving up the airline's pecking order. Anyone booking transatlantic or transpacific trips from the Upper Midwest should keep an eye on route announcements in the run-up to 2027.