Phase 2 of Tampa airport expansion underway

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Officials broke ground on “Phase 2” of Tampa International Airport’s expansion.  They’re touting the new express curbside as a feature that will have a big impact on travelers. 

“This is going to be awesome for our travelers,” said airport CEO Joe Lopano.  “If you have your boarding pass and don’t have to check bags you'll be able to go to our express lanes and not have to deal with people unloading luggage and all that stuff.  Just hop out of the car and go to the transfer level and go to our airplane.  This is going to double our curbside capacity,” Lopano said. 

Sixteen new express lanes will be created, eight on the blue side and eight on red.  Officials say speed isn't the only benefit. 

“There's 22 million passengers a year that come thru here and we're expecting over the next 20 years to be up to 30 million passengers so we have to stay ahead of the growth,” said Lopano. 

Clifford Christenson fly’s in and out of TPA several times a year.  
“I think that’s a great deal anything to speed up on the ground process is great,” Christenson said. 
“We've been flying into this airport for years for family, love the airport and I think that would be a nice feature,” said Debra Kieres, who lives in Chicago, but visits Tampa frequently to see family. 

The new express lanes will be open on the blue side in 2022.  The red side will be ready 2 years later in 2024.