Tampa International Airport announces new international airport with 16 gates

Summary

Tampa International Airport (TPA) is building its new Airside D-Terminal for international flights.
The facility will have two floors, a modern design and a connecting shuttle.
The airport expects that the new airport area will increase airline capacity once it is completed in 2028.

Tampa International Airport (TPA) will build a new 16-gate international airport, scheduled to open in 2028. It will serve as the airport’s international arrivals and departures hall and will be the first new airport in 17 years.

The new terminal

Airside D will be the main project under the new brand banner “Ascend”, which will represent the airport’s goals and plans for its new building. It will have two floors, a mezzanine, two airline lounges and a brand new shuttle system and guideway connecting the airside to the rest of the airport.

An aerial view of a concourse at Tampa International Airport.

Photo: Tampa International Airport

This is part of the airport’s ‘master plan’, which will see the development of new and existing facilities to accommodate expected future growth. The airport says the new concourse will work towards its goal of handling up to 35 million passengers annually by 2037.

There will be a Customs and Border Protection facility for international arrivals, evidence that the airport expects further growth in this area. There will also inevitably be new shops and dining areas, says the TPA, adding that the new facility “State of the art”.

“Tampa International Airport is working with the design-build team of Hensel Pehlps, HNTB and Gensler to create this modern facility, which will be the first new airside terminal at TPA in nearly 20 years.”

The schedule and location

The new Airside D will be built between the existing facilities C and E. TPA previously had an Airside D, but it was demolished in 2007.

Photo: Feng Cheng | Shutterstock

The space where Airside D will be built will be used as a parking lot for aircraft that stay overnight. According to TPA, the area can be seen “from the windows behind the food court in the northwest corner of the main terminal (Wendy’s, Chick-fil-A and Qdoba).”

With an area of 55,500 square meters, it will be the largest area of the airport. It will measure about 183 meters from east to west and 147 meters from north to south. The airport says that this is roughly equivalent to a football field, namely two by one and a half.

Work is expected to be completed in 2028, with groundbreaking scheduled for this year. In late 2023, the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA) approved the design-build contract. Groundbreaking and construction will take place by the end of 2024. “Location-enabling work” Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2025. TPA aims to have 75% of the work completed by the end of 2027.

Projected growth

According to official information, the new airport will be used by “several airlines”In a statement, the company said:

“We will soon announce an airline that will be the main tenant of the Airside and operate one of the two lounge areas on the mezzanine.”

According to aviation data and analytics firm Cirium, Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines are the largest operators of TPA by seat capacity (based on August 2024). They will offer a total of around 295,000, 191,000 and 175,000 seats, respectively, that month. Southwest holds a 26% market share, Delta 18% and American 17%.