Tampa Airport passengers can now bypass ticket levels, head straight to gate

TAMPA, Fla. - Just in time for the holidays, Tampa International Airport is about to open express curbside check-in to allow passengers without checked bags to quickly get to their plane.

The airport is the first in the country to open express curbsides. The service is for passengers without checked bags who already have a boarding pass.

They'll bypass the ticketing and bag claim levels, going straight to the gate tram level.

"It really envisions the change in what customers are doing now," explained Joe Lopano, the airport’s CEO. "People don't really check baggage as much as they used to.  A lot of folks travel with just one carry-on bag and they have their boarding pass on their phone.  So they can just drop off at these express curbs and go directly up to the transfer level and out to their airplane."

The service officially opens Tuesday morning. They will initially have eight blue express curbside lanes, and soon, eight more on the red side.