TPA reopens following Hurricane Idalia
The Airport opened to arriving flights at 4 p.m. Wednesday and resumed full operations Thursday.
With Hurricane Idalia moving away from the Tampa Bay region, Tampa International Airport reopened to arriving flights at 4 p.m. Wednesday, and resumed full operations at 3 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 31.
Airport operations and maintenance staff inspected the airfield and facilities Wednesday morning and determined that, aside from some flooding that did not impact runways, TPA did not sustain any serious damage during the storm. Roadways on the Airport campus are open.
“TPA is fortunate to have avoided the worst effects of such a dangerous storm, after acting in an abundance of caution to protect the safety of our passengers, employees and facilities,” Tampa International Airport CEO Joe Lopano said. “We’re focused now on returning to full operational capacity to continue serving our community and to assist in recovery efforts for our fellow Floridians.”
Critical steps in the airport’s reopening process include recalling required staff for partners such as the FAA, the TSA, airlines and others, and repositioning vital equipment and aircraft that had to be stored or relocated ahead of the storm. Wednesday’s partial reopening will enable airlines to return aircraft and crews to TPA for flights the following morning.
Additional information for passengers:
- Parking facilities, the SkyConnect train, the Rental Car Center and other services were in operation by 4 p.m. Wednesday. Some shops and restaurants reopened Thursday.
- TSA Security Checkpoints and all other services reopened Thursday morning to serve departing passengers who arrived early for their flights.
- With high passenger volumes expected, passengers are urged to arrive at the Airport at least 2 hours before their scheduled departure.
- Our General Aviation Airports – Peter O. Knight, Tampa Executive and Plant City – all reopened by Thursday. Those three facilities are operated by the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, which also runs TPA. Peter O. Knight experienced significant flooding.
The National Weather Service placed the Tampa Bay region under a Hurricane Warning on Monday, prompting Airport officials to announce TPA would close at 12:01 Tuesday morning to allow sufficient time to protect infrastructure and to ensure passengers and employees had time to make their own safety arrangements ahead of the storm.
Critical components of this process included strapping down nearly 60 boarding bridges which can take up to an hour each, relocating planes, deploying an estimated 600 sandbags across Airport facilities, and securing more than a dozen active construction sites.
Passengers should check with their airlines for the latest information on flight status, as TPA operates and maintains the Airport but does not determine airline schedules.
Follow @FlyTPA on X (formerly Twitter) for the latest updates.
