Increase in passengers at St. Pete Clearwater International continues

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Whether people are in town for Taylor Swift or to visit the Tampa Bay area's beautiful beaches, more and more people are traveling to the region. 

St. Pete Clearwater International Airport reported an eight percent increase in passengers year-to-date over 2022. In 2022, more passengers flew through the airport than in any other year in the airport’s history.

Despite a decrease of four percent in domestic passengers in March compared to last year, Michele Routh, the airport’s public relations director, said it was the second biggest March in the airport’s history, only behind last year’s, which is hard to beat.

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"Last year, there was a huge travel demand coming out of the pandemic," she said.

Almost 250,000 people came through the airport last month, Routh said.

International passengers in March increased by 24% compared to last year. Routh said that’s due in part to more than a dozen new destinations that were added during the pandemic that people couldn’t really take advantage of until now.

"It has been increases, the sense that the travel demand has been very piqued," she said.

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"Up until 2019, the 10 years prior to that, we had a 183% increase in traffic, so the couple years of the pandemic was, you know, only just a blip in the increase, and we're back on that trajectory again of really needing to be able to accommodate all the passengers that are coming through this airport," Routh said.

Routh said they’re adding 500 more parking spots to the Strawberry Pie Economy Lot with construction set to start in June and wrap up by Thanksgiving. 

She said they’ll also pick the contract for the terminal expansion in August and construction will start next year. 

The terminal expansion will add more space for passengers waiting for their flights, and add new jet bridges.