Tampa International Airport
Tampa International Airport is an airport located in Tampa, Florida, serving the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area. Tampa's airport is famously beautiful, and is regarded as hassle-free with its simple "Red Airlines" and "Blue Airlines" system. Its IATA airport code is TPA.
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TPA opened on April 15, 1971, on the site of Drew Field Municipal Airport, which took over commercial flights from Peter O. Knight Airport in 1945. Passenger traffic increased dramatically during TPA's first two years of operation, and has steadily grown ever since, with a marked acceleration among low-cost carriers since the arrival of Southwest Airlines in 1997.
Tampa International Airport has a satellite terminal configuration similar to that of Orlando International Airport. There is one "landside" terminal where baggage and ticketing take place. The landside terminal is connected to the "airsides" where embarkment and disembarkment takes place. Each airside is connected to the landside terminal via a monorail. There is a strict regulation as to the average distance travellers must walk before they reach a "rest" area such as a monorail, escalator or elevator.
Currently there are four airsides: A, D, E and F. Airside B has been removed and replaced with a luggage sorting building (and previously had remained vacant since Eastern Airlines ceased operations). Airside C is being rebuilt and afterwards Airside D will be rebuilt. Airsides A, E and F are modern; the latter is also the international terminal.
A new runway is being planned to increase capacity in fair-weather conditions and a second terminal may be built in the 2010s. A remote parking building is also planned, probably sited near where the remote parking lot is now.
History
Terminal
Red Side
Blue Side
External links