Page was last updated on 10/03/2024.
Welcome to Tampa International Airport!
This page will include the following sections:
- General Overview
- Airport Layout
- The airport over the years
- The people movers
- Airport Expansion
- Getting to the airport via transit
- If you’re driving to the airport
- Additional Passenger Information
Because of the changing nature of the commercial airline industry, I do not post detailed passenger information such as airline locations. I instead recommend that you visit the airport’s website for the latest, as this page is more of a general information/brief history page.
If you’re an aviation enthusiast & have a social media presence on Facebook, you may want to consider joining TPA Airport’s dedicated Facebook group – The Plane Spot!
General Overview
Built in 1971, the current Tampa International Airport terminal complex is full of many design elements that made the airport revolutionary at its time. Most notable of these elements is the Landside-Airside design of the terminal complex. Rather than having a series of terminal and concourse buildings connected via physical hallways, Tampa International Airport’s concourses are connected to the main (or Landside) terminal via people movers. Orlando International Airport’s current “A/B” terminal was also built in a very similar fashion to Tampa International Airport due to the success of the Landside-Airside design. Sadly though, Tampa and Orlando are the only two airports in the world that posses this unique design as widespread usage of the Landside-Airside design never materialized.
Airport Layout
Overlooking Airside F & a Southwest Airlines jet from the Long Term Parking Garage.
The Tampa International Airport Complex comprises of a three-level main terminal complex, with a six story parking garage on top of it. To the north is the current on-site airport hotel and control tower, as well as support facilities, and to the south is an eight level parking structure primarily dedicated to overnight parking. To the south of the main complex are the Economy Parking Garages & the Rental Car Center. Both are connected via the SkyConnect people mover.
On the outer perimeter of the main terminal are four Airside terminals (A, C, E, and F), all connected by people movers. A provision has been made to rebuild Airside D as part of the airport’s ongoing expansion & improvement project, with the concourse slated to be rebuilt during the course of 2025 through 2027. The south (or Long Term) parking structure had a monorail on level 5 that connects passengers from the garage to the main terminal building. However, it closed permanently in 2020 & has since been dismantled due to obsolete technology & rising maintenance costs. Moving walkways have been installed on Level 4 to compensate for the loss of the monorail.
Airport Complex Diagram
Each Airside building was built in accordance to their primary airline carrier’s needs. Airside A was designed and built in 1995 with the needs of Continental Airlines (now part of United Airlines) in mind. Airside C in 2004 for Southwest Airlines, Airside E in 2002 for Delta Air Lines, and Airside F in 1987 to accommodate international flights. The original concept of the airport called for four identical looking Airside buildings. When Airside D is rebuilt, it will be able to handle both domestic & international flights.
The overall airport complex is quite large in a sense, with each airside concourse containing roughly 15 gates. Each airside, as well as the main terminal, contains spaces for passengers to shop & dine while waiting for their flights or for loved ones to pick them up. If you happen to be arriving at the airport via transit to catch a flight, you may be able to use the remote bag check-in located at the south end of the Rental Car Center building near the entry to the SkyConnect people mover. Please be sure to check with the airport for current hours, as they may change. Also, only certain airlines provide remote & curbside check-in capabilities, so if your airline isn’t one of them, you’ll need to proceed to the ticketing desk in Level 2 of the main terminal to check in your bags.
The airport over the years
The main terminal building has dramatically changed in appearance since the 1990s & very few elements of the original design remain. Decades old carpeting has made way for sleek, modern tiling, while the brick walls along the ticketing & baggage claim levels have gone to the wayside in favor of modern wall paneling. What will likely always remain intact is the original public art pieces – like the one pictured above, as well as the unique bricked “split-look” columns that line the terminal’s interior.
Along with the drastic change in appearance in the Main Terminal’s interior, a whole new line of restaurants & shops have opened up to provide options for passengers that were previously unavailable. Some of the merchants that have called TPA Airport home since 2017 include P.F. Chang’s, Starbucks, Wendy’s, & Mindworks, as well as local-based businesses such as the Shoppes at Bayshore & the Columbia Cafe.
If you want to go back in time, you can visit AirportHistory.org & view their blog post about when the airport opened in 1971. You can also visit Juan’s TPA Airport Page, which provides a good amount of historical insight into the airport from the days of Drew Field to the current complex up until 2013.
The people movers
The airport originally operated eight Westinghouse C-100 people mover shuttles (two per airside) until the mid 90s, when they were replaced with Bombardier-built variants.
To handle the growing number of passengers traversing the airport each year, the number of shuttles were increased to where each airside operates two pairs of vehicles. The current vehicles used for Airside C were originally single units used on the old Airsides C & D from 1995 until 2003. The vehicles were refurbished, paired up, & installed on the new Airside C guideway when the replacement facility opened in 2005.
In 2021, Bombardier Transportation was acquired by Alstom & the latter will be constructing new Innovia 300 vehicles to be deployed to all of the airsides, including the future Airside D replacement, in the coming years.
Bombardier C-100 (today branded as the Innovia 100) Tram leaving Airside C.
The old parking garage monorail
1991 Bombardier UM III train moving through Level 5 (now Level 7) of the Long Term Parking Garage. Note: This photo was taken in February of 2019 & all of the infrastructure for the monorail has since been dismantled.
When the Long Term parking lot was converted to a multi-structure parking garage between 1988 & 1991, a pinched loop monorail line was built to help passengers travel between the main terminal & the garage without excessively increasing walking distances between their parked vehicles & the plane. The line encompassed seven stations, four of which sat adjacent to the respective elevator banks at the Long Term parking garage.
The parking garage monorail had a total of five vehicles that were originally supplied by Universal Mobility Incorporated. The UM III technologies were later acquired by Bombardier Transportation in 1989 & the same vehicle type (though paired variants) operate on the Jacksonville (elevated) Skyway in Jacksonville, FL.
As I mentioned earlier, the monorail permanently closed in 2020 & has since been dismantled. I suspect that all of the trains were scrapped, but perhaps anything deemed usable was sent off to Jacksonville to allow their Skyway to operate for just a little longer until their replacement Ultimate Urban Circulator is constructed.
Airport Expansion
While many renovations & expansions took place over the course of the past three decades, the most sweeping renovation & expansion project in the entire history of the airport complex since the construction of the current terminal in 1971 is currently taking place. In addition to the earlier explained cosmetic improvements that have occurred in the main terminal, the entire complex has had a refresh of shops & eateries – with all of the previous vendors being replaced with new ones. Additionally, the SkyConnect people mover has eliminated the need for regular shuttle bus operations between the main terminal & the Economy Garage.
Whether you’re driving to the airport, or using public transit, getting to & from Tampa International Airport is pretty easy – though many hurdles remain as far as whether transit access will get better. Currently, several Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) bus routes & one Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) bus route serve the airport’s bus hub located just outside of the Rental Car Center.
Just south of the Rental Car Center is a provision to allow for passenger rail transportation to be constructed if ever a successful voter referendum is passed in Hillsborough & Pinellas Counties. Such measures in the past have largely failed, with a 2018 attempt in Hillsborough being invalidated by state courts.
Getting to the airport via transit
HART has a total of three bus routes serving the airport bus hub: Routes 10, 30, & 32, all of which operate 7-days-a-week. PSTA operates most of its weekday-only Route 300X trips with a stop at the hub as well. Due to ongoing construction, bus bay assignments may change.
If you’re driving to the airport
There’s only one point of egress, the George J. Bean Pkwy. This roadway is a limited access spur that branches off the southern end of the Veterans Expressway at Spruce St. The expressway connects to Interstate 275 from the south, so simply follow the signs that point to the airport – regardless of what direction you’re coming from. If you’re picking up a friend or loved one, it’s highly encouraged that you either park at the Short Term Parking Garage, or use the Cell Phone Lot located between the airport post office & the Economy Garage. You can use the latter lot to wait for your party until they call you to notify you that they’re ready to be picked up. Like many airports, leaving your vehicle to sit at the departure or arrival drives is not allowed unless you are actively dropping someone off or picking someone up.
Additional Passenger Information
For additional passenger information, including flight status, airside/gate locations, & retail/dining options, please visit the TPA Airport website.
The Global Transit Guidebook 
FYI Airside C now serves Frontier.
Thank you for the head’s up. I plan on updating the TPA Airport page soon. I am unfortunately behind on a lot of updates.
Regards,
HARTride 2012