More passengers, more facility improvements, more revenue slated for TPA in 2020

Tampa International Airport expects to serve 23.3 million passengers over the next 12 months, logging yet another record year and topping projected numbers from this past fiscal year by 4.6 percent. The passenger traffic number was among many other projections presented at the Sept. 5 Hillsborough County Aviation Authority Board meeting, during which the Board approved the Fiscal Year 2020 budget.

Airport analysts also forecast record revenues of $269.6 million, a 4.2 percent increase over this past fiscal year, which runs from October 1 through September 30. TPA’s four money generators, which make up about 87 percent of the Airport’s revenues, are parking and ground transportation, airline revenues, rental cars and concessions. Each of the four areas is expecting to see between a 3.6 and 4.9 percent increase in FY20 compared to the previous year.

While TPA continues full speed ahead on Master Plan projects such as the SkyCenter development and express curbsides, the Airport’s FY20 capital improvement program outlined 17 non-Master Plan projects totaling $123.6 million, with most geared toward enhancing the customer experience. Those projects include replacing TPA’s Long Term Garage monorail with moving walkways, expanding and enhancing restrooms at Airsides A and F, replacing carpeting in high-traffic areas, upgrading digital signage and incorporating new technology that will better forecast passenger demands at TPA when there are delays and cancelations.

The Airport won’t have final Fiscal Year 2019 number calculations until mid-October but the Finance team is projecting a total of 22.3 million passengers from October 1, 2018, through the end of September. That’s 2.7 percent higher than Airport officials projected in last year’s FY19 budget. Tampa International has grown its passenger traffic by more than 34 percent since CEO Joe Lopano arrived at the beginning of 2011.

Lopano praised his staff in a memo sent to them following the passage of the FY20 budget at the Board meeting.

“In addition to being grateful for a supportive Board that stands behind everything we do at TPA, I’m so proud of the work you do to ensure we’re operating a world-class Airport every day,” Lopano told his staff. “I’m constantly in awe of what a great team we have, and what we can accomplish when we’re working toward the same common goals together.”