Tampa International Airport is the third largest airport in Florida, handling more than 19 million passengers in 2007, an increase of 1.5% over 2006. It is located 10 km west of the central business district from Tampa in Hillsborough County, with Highway 60 passing right by the airport entrance. east of the start of the Courtney Campbell Causeway and just south of the end of the Veterans Expressway. The airport entrance is well signposted and is located west of Westshore Boulevard, accessed via exit 39 off I-275 or westbound Spruce Street or Columbus Drive from Tampa.
The Tampa International Airport terminal was the first of its kind in the world with four airside satellites connected to the main building via an automated people mover (APM). The terminal was originally designed to limit the walking distance between car and plane to 700 feet, but has now increased to about 1,000 feet due to new, larger airside buildings.
When you arrive at the Tampa airport, you can rent a car at one of the car rental agencies located in the terminal building, or you can arrange transportation into the city at one of the interactive ground transportation information kiosks in the area. baggage claim near the escalators. There are shared passenger van services, as well as several city buses that travel to Tampa and other destinations.
Taxi service is provided from the commercial ground transportation quadrants located at the four corners of the baggage claim level. Yellow Cab and United Cab taxis can be found curbside outside the baggage claim areas. Both charge the same rates: $2 plus $2 per mile.
Passenger pickups can be found at the bus slots in the ground transportation quadrants. HARTline Rapid Transit is located at the east end of the red baggage claim curb by Belt #20, and the route map and schedule is posted at the bus stop.
There is no train station at the Tampa airport, but there is an Amtrak station in downtown Tampa at 601 Nebraska Avenue that can be reached by taxi or Hartline bus rapid transit. The station and ticket office are open daily from 08:15 to 17:15.
The baggage claim area is divided into red and blue sections. If you are heading to the red area but need to be in the blue area, you need to go to level 2 and go through the lobby area where you can take the stairs (or elevator) down to level 1.
You can drop off passengers at the entrance to the terminal building, but please do not park or leave your vehicle there as it will be towed away. Both short-term and long-term parking is available next to the airport terminal. There is also a remote economy car park connected by a shuttle bus and valet parking is also available in the garage for short stays.
When you enter the terminal building, you will notice that the check-in/ticketing area is also divided into two sections, red on the north side and blue on the south side. There is a good selection of places to eat and drink at the airport, both before and after security. There is also a wide variety of shops at Tampa Airport both in the public areas and in the passenger areas. The Tampa airport has a bank, ATMs and exchange houses. The airport business center offers Internet access, fax and photocopying and the Airport Marriott is located in the terminal with its own business center and conference rooms.
