Tampa International Airport (TPA) has a special place in my heart. I grew up in Tampa, so it used to by home airport back when I’d do mileage runs. My parents still live in Tampa, so it’s an airport I return to all the time. On top of that, it’s just generally an awesome mid-size airport — it’s so easy to use thanks to the central concourse, with several smaller terminals.
Tampa Airport recently previewed its first new terminal in 20 years, and I’m really excited about it! I first wrote about this several weeks ago, but want to provide an update, as details have just been revealed about the terminal’s first tenant.
In this post:
The basics of the new Tampa Airport Airside D
Tampa Airport’s new Airside D is expected to open to the public in 2028, so the bad news is that we’ll have to wait at least a few more years before this becomes a reality. Groundbreaking and early stages of construction started in very late 2024, even though the design hasn’t yet been finalized.
Airside D is intended to help the airport grow from 25 million to 35 million passengers per year by 2037, so it’s a vital part of the airport’s overall vision for expansion.
The new Tampa Airport Airside D is expected to cost around $1.5 billion to build, and will feature:
- A total of 16 gates, including an international passenger arrival processing area, meaning this will be the new terminal for international flights
- An orthogonal shape with 600,000 square feet, for greater space and operational efficiency; it’ll be connected from the main terminal by a shuttle system, as is the case with the current setup
- A mezzanine level for two airline lounges with views of the airfield and the bay
- Shopping and dining locations at the center of the airside, offering 360-degree views of the gates
- A large open space featuring intuitive wayfinding and natural light
The airport has released renderings of the design concept for Airside D. The renderings show soaring ceilings, bright interiors, and an international arrivals corridor that wraps around the building, and more. The one thing to note is that the design process hasn’t been complete, so these images are subject to change as the design evolves.
Delta named as first tenant of TPA Airside D
We’ve known for some time that Tampa Airport Airside D would be getting two lounges, though we didn’t actually know who the tenants of the airside would be. Well, there’s now a major update. It has just been revealed that Delta will be one of the primary tenants of Airside D.
Delta will have at least six gates in the new airside, and will also be building an 18,000 square foot Sky Club. That’s pretty exciting for Delta, since the airline will have at least six of the 16 gates in the airside, if not more.
More broadly, I’m excited to see the lounge portfolio at Tampa Airport grow, and I’m curious to see what kind of terminal “musical chairs” we see.
Currently Tampa has only three lounges — an American Admirals Club in Airside F, a Delta Sky Club® in Airside E, and the International Club Lounge in Airside F (used by Virgin Atlantic). Those are the only options, and there are no other lounges.
While I love Tampa Airport’s small concourses for the purposes of easily getting from the curb to the gate, the various concourses aren’t connected airside, so this isn’t ideal in terms of lounge access. For example, airlines like Discover and Edelweiss depart from Airside F, but can’t offer their premium passengers any lounge access.
Now that we know that Delta is moving to Airside D, I can’t help but wonder what this means for the overall terminal dynamics:
- I think it’s likely that American and United won’t be moving to Airside D, since it’s unlikely they’d have the available gate space, with Delta taking at least six of the 16 gates, plus international flights departing from there
- This means that the Delta Sky Club® in Airside E will become vacant; could we see United move from Airside A to Airside E, and take over the space of the former Delta Sky Club?
- With that in mind, I suspect the second lounge in Airside D may not be an airline lounge, but will instead be a contract lounge that’s accessible with Priority Pass, since that’s good for passengers in general, and it’s also valuable in terms of all international airlines having somewhere to send premium passengers
- While I’d love to see it, I suspect that Tampa Airport won’t be getting a credit card lounge, like an Amex Centurion Lounge, Capital One Lounge, or Chase Sapphire Lounge; however, you never know…
I wonder if we’ll see Delta expand its network in Tampa, or if the carrier is happy with its current growth. Right now, Delta offers flights to Amsterdam (AMS), plus joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic flies to London (LHR).
Bottom line
In 2028, Tampa Airport will be getting its first new concourse in 20 years, with the opening of Airside D. This will be the airport’s new international terminal, and it’ll be over 600,000 square feet, will feature 16 gates, and will have two lounges.
We’ve now learned that Delta will be one of the primary tenants in this concourse. Delta will have at least six of the 16 gates, and will also have an 18,000 square foot Sky Club.
What do you make of the plans for Tampa Airport Airside D?
You can be fairly certain that United and Air Canada will move to Airside E with United and Air Canada (Star Alliance) utilizing the former Delta Sky Club® space.
Interestingly, Airside D will be Delta's third lounge location at TPA with the first being in the original Airside C. The current Airside E location is constantly crowded and has poor food service area so the new space will be a welcome addition!
American...
You can be fairly certain that United and Air Canada will move to Airside E with United and Air Canada (Star Alliance) utilizing the former Delta Sky Club® space.
Interestingly, Airside D will be Delta's third lounge location at TPA with the first being in the original Airside C. The current Airside E location is constantly crowded and has poor food service area so the new space will be a welcome addition!
American will have to up their game as their former US Airways lounge in Airside F is pretty lame.
I feel like "The Club at TPA" is the most likely outcome for the second lounge for airside D. A Plaza Premium lounge would be a close second. I also would not rule out Capital One, and there is precedent for a Capital One lounge as at DFW Korean Airways sends their international business class customers to the Capital One Lounge, so clearly Capital One is open to sharing access with international airlines who would not otherwise be able to offer lounge access.
Surely this means UA moves to airside A. Their operation out of TPA isn't small, and the lack of a lounge here seems like a hole in their network. AC could definitely use it too, though CM and LH would likely have to use the new D.
The inside has a lot of similarities with the new MSY North Terminal
Best home airport in America. I think a Chase lounge would fit perfectly here considering they've opened lounges in smaller airports like San Diego.
I was really hoping they would nuke that Marriott into orbit when they started the new airside. How I hate it so.
Something I’d love to see is glass-walled jetbridges. It’s so much more pleasant to shuffle down to the plane with natural light. The new MCI has them and I hope the trend continues. Tampa is already a pleasant airport.
Munich has these, and they are indeed very nice to walk up and down
That would be awesome! The trains are good but allow us to walk to terminals! It’s a good exercise! That plus connecting all airside terminals with bridges would be ideal!
Mason will love this
I guess it’s practically guaranteed that Virgin will be sharing that lounge! (what’s less certain is whether the route survives… the VS TPA miles redemptions tell a story)
18,000 sf is very large for an airline lounge when the airline only handles approximately 4M pax a year through it. They are obviously adding additional space for their international flight as well as the Virgin flights. I wonder if they do something special or have a special area for business passengers, like a dining room.
The renderings remind of Fort Lauderdale.
That whole part of Florida is booming. Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers, and down to Naples. Is Florida the only state where Delta or Delta codeshares fly international long-hauls from three separate, major airports? Miami, Orlando and Tampa all have long-haul international flights on Delta or Delta codeshares.
as an all-new terminal, DL clearly has the ability to specify room for expansion. At the speed they are rolling out D1 lounges in hubs, they very well could start putting them in major spoke cities - of which major Florida cities would have to be on the list.
Just because they have "only" committed to 18K SF of lounge space in the new TPA terminal doesn't mean that is all they will ever have.
I happened to post this on my Facebook page earlier today: "Tampa vs Orlando? Tampa/St.Pete only has 3 airlines that don't fly into Orlando: Cayman, Edelweiss & Havana Air. Orlando/Sanford have 16 airlines that don't fly into Tampa: Aer Lingus, Air France, Air Transat, Azul, Bahamasair, Bermudair, Caribbean, Emirates, Flair, GOL, Iberojet, Icelandair, LATAM, Norse Atlantic, Viva, Volares."
As a TPA based flyer, this is wonderful news. Are we assuming Delta is vacating terminal E and will exclusively operate out of D once complete? Just asking because 6 gates doesn’t seem like a lot, as they currently only use 6 gates out of E. So it’d be a wash on gate bandwidth, with the only improvement being a new SkyClub.
that is the minimum they have committed to. I would strongly bet that they have provisions that allow them to grow. There would be little reason to spend money on a new facility without getting significant benefit from it. Given that DL uses large narrowbody aircraft on many FL flights, the most likely way for DL to grow is by adding flights.
This isn't a surprise. DL was expected to be the anchor tenant of this terminal which also aligns DL with international operations, making it unlikely another domestic airline will be in that terminal for the long term.
DL has long been the largest airline in Florida outside of MIA, speaking to its broad presence throughout the state which produces far more traffic than any single city.
while sUm Airlines are still building their core...
This isn't a surprise. DL was expected to be the anchor tenant of this terminal which also aligns DL with international operations, making it unlikely another domestic airline will be in that terminal for the long term.
DL has long been the largest airline in Florida outside of MIA, speaking to its broad presence throughout the state which produces far more traffic than any single city.
while sUm Airlines are still building their core interior US hubs, DL is building new facilities in outstations even as it builds new focus cities and hubs. Who knows if TPA will see significant DL growth but it won't be a surprise given the investment that DL is putting into TPA
Too bad other airlines have so many more planes than DL and thus likely will grow at a faster rate.
no, sUm Airlines will have to retire their older aircraft or face increasingly high costs. Airplanes don't last forever and the longer they remain in service, the more expensive they get.
And in order to get new generation engines, you have to buy a plane that was built for them.
You do realize that DL flies a higher percentage of its widebody fleet on new generation powered aircraft than UA?
You do realize...
no, sUm Airlines will have to retire their older aircraft or face increasingly high costs. Airplanes don't last forever and the longer they remain in service, the more expensive they get.
And in order to get new generation engines, you have to buy a plane that was built for them.
You do realize that DL flies a higher percentage of its widebody fleet on new generation powered aircraft than UA?
You do realize that UA is the 6th largest airline in the state of Florida? some people love to talk about how great their hub airports are while failing to note how poor UA's position is in Florida which is one of the largest travel markets in the world.
UA can talk about growth all they want but their hubs are simply not suited for being a significant carrier in Florida. AA and DL both have very well positioned hubs to be large carriers to Florida.
and, in case you missed it, DL is going to the anchor tenant of this new terminal which will also be the international arrivals facility.
UA MIGHT take DL's leftovers.
So easily triggered lol
you are the one that needed to throw UA's growth into the discussion which inevitably led to discussing the reality that UA is actually somewhere around the 6th largest airline in Florida, one of the largest air travel markets in the world if it were a standalone country.
Tampa is my airport and like so many in the region we take great pride in our amazing , beautisul and welcoming airport that is consistently voted in the top two for passenger satisfaction in the country. I am thrilled that my favorite ride, Delta, will be in the new airside. Great news all around !
As another fellow avgeek who grew up in Tampa, I'm so excited about this! It's so nice to see TPA grow and modernize over the years.
My main though after looking at the renderings is that it looks mighty similar to Terminal C at MCO. It's quite interesting how much the two airports copy one another.
This unironically will probably be the most premium lounge at TPA. Says more about TPA than DL though.
Hopefully Delta makes a mini hub or focus city out of Tampa. New Terminal D is perfect for the growth that Tampa needs, and if Delta does move in there United and America better step up, especially United.
18,000 sf is very large for an airline lounge when the airline only handles approximately 4M pax a year through it. They are obviously adding additional space for their international flight as well as the Virgin flights. I wonder if they do something special or have a special area for business passengers, like a dining room.