Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has received a $20 million federal grant to help pay for the two more gates at Terminal 2, the smaller of the airport's two terminals.

The money comes from the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Airport Terminals Program, part of a $5 billion fund that was part of President Joe Biden's 2021 infrastructure law. The grant was announced Thursday by Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, both Democrats.

Noting that MSP is among the busiest airports in the country and employs several thousand people, Klobuchar said in a news release that the grant will help "improve the travel experience for passengers and maintain its position as a top-ranking airport."

The $240 million project will add two new gates — H15 and H16 — on the north end of Terminal 2 and expand concourse and gate space for H13 and H14, according to Jeff Lea, spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which operates MSP. Work is expected to begin mid-year and finish by 2026.

"This will support growing airline operations and increase MSP's ability to support additional airline flights and service to more destinations," Lea said. There are 16 gates at Terminal 2 now.

Lea said the new gates have not been assigned to a particular airline yet. Currently, Sun Country, Southwest, Allegiant, Condor, Frontier, Icelandair, and JetBlue fly from there.

Close to 35 million travelers flew into or out of MSP last year, the third consecutive year of growth for the airport, and the most since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"MSP is a critical transportation hub and economic driver for communities across Minnesota," said Smith, adding that the investment will help ensure the airport has "the capacity to meet demand."

Last year, the MAC announced a $242 million overhaul of the main concourses and gate areas at Terminal 1. The renovation of six of the seven concourses there is set to be finished by late 2026.