Tampa International Airport (IATA: TPA, ICAO: KTPA, FAA LID: TPA) is a major public airport located six nautical miles (11 km) west of the central business district of Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. This airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority. It serves the Tampa Bay Area and has been widely praised for its attractive architecture and Landside/Airside design of a central terminal ("landside") connected by people movers to satellite gates ("airsides"), a pioneering concept when initially designed in the late 1960s. The airport was known as Drew Field Municipal Airport until 1952.
Tampa International Airport currently serves as a main hub for Silver Airways under the United Express brand. It is also the main aircraft and maintenance base for World Airways and North American Airlines. Today, Southwest Airlines carries the largest share of TPA passengers, operating a peak-season schedule of over 90 daily flights. The airport presently serves 72 non-stop destinations, including international service to Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and to destinations throughout the Caribbean. The airport handled 16,732,051 passengers in 2011, making it the 30th busiest airport by passenger movements in North America. International Plaza and Bay Street is adjacent to the airport. It 2011, it was called one of the 10 best airports by CNNGo.
Read more about Tampa International Airport: History, Terminal, Airlines and Destinations, TPA Airport Today, Accidents and Incidents
Famous quotes containing the word airport:
“Airplanes are invariably scheduled to depart at such times as 7:54, 9:21 or 11:37. This extreme specificity has the effect on the novice of instilling in him the twin beliefs that he will be arriving at 10:08, 1:43 or 4:22, and that he should get to the airport on time. These beliefs are not only erroneous but actually unhealthy.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)