Tampa International Airport

Commercial airline service originated in Tampa when Tony Jannus flew the inaugural flight of the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line on January 1st, 1914, from St. Petersburg to Tampa. It was the first scheduled commercial flight of a heavier-than-air airplane in the world. The airport originated in 1928 and was built on a 160-acre plot of land. It was named Drew Field for John H. Drew, the developer who formerly owned the land. During the buildup to WWII in 1939, the U.S. Army Air Corps began negotiating the use of the airport. It was then leased to the U.S. government for 25 years in 1940 (or until the end of the “national emergency”). The airport was expanded and modernized during the war, and the Third Air Force used it as a training center under Drew Army Airfield. Most of the aircraft flown were bombers for the European and Pacific theaters, while local antisubmarine patrols were flown for a while. Aircraft operated included the North American AT-6, the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, and others. The military vacated the airfield after WWII, and the expansions brought about during that time made the airport attractive to airlines, who had been using the Peter O. Knight Airport previously. Eastern Air Lines and National Airlines were the first airlines to service the airport, as the previous airport was too small to handle the newer aircraft. In 1950 international flights began through Trans Canada Airlines when the airport was renamed Tampa International Airport. A second terminal opened in 1952, intended for use by three airlines. This quickly turned into an issue as the Civil Aeronautics Board allowed a host of airlines (Capital, Delta, Northeast, Northwest, and TWA) authority to fly to Tampa. This necessitated expansion, with an annex, built east of the terminal. In 1960 Delta began flying Douglas DC-8 jets, with the other airlines soon following suit, bringing about more congestion to the terminal, which was not built for these larger aircraft (bringing about more expansion). Construction of a new terminal began in 1968, and it opened in 1971. It used a color-coded signage scheme for the airlines, with some attributed to a red dot and others a blue dot. An air traffic control tower opened in 1972, and at 207 feet tall was the highest in the U.S. at the time. The following year the Host/Marriot Airport Hotel opened, featuring sound-proof guest rooms and triple-paned windows. Both the Airside and the Landside of the terminal were renovated/expanded several times during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2005 the economy parking garage was expanded, bringing the total of parking spaces to 5,600.
 

The airport is located six miles west of Downtown Tampa. 

• TPA is consistently rated excellently. This includes being the Best Overall Airport in the U.S. according to Zagat in 2007 and 2008, with Condé Nast Traveler ranking it the second-best airport in the world in 2008, just two-tenths of a point behind first place, amongst others. 
• TPA was the first airport in the world to use the color-coded wayfinding signage scheme, which was deemed safer for drivers and required fewer signs than was initially anticipated. 
• The airport's logo represents the blue waters of Tampa Bay and a jetliner (modeled after the supersonic aircraft, which at the time was thought to replace conventional jets in the future) flying into the Downtown Tampa sunset.