Tag Archives: Tampa International Airport

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Tampa Bay Times: Tampa International Airport is willing to spend money to make money on international flights

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times. October 14, 2016

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Orlando International Airport hasn’t ever had trouble recruiting new flights.

Airliners have been lining up for years to link new cities from around the globe to Disney World, Universal Studios and Central Florida’s other tourism attractions.

But last year, the Orlando airport introduced a financial incentive program meant to help lure new airline business.

The program mimicked what Tampa International Airport instituted more than five years ago, which has helped bring high-profile international flights like nonstop service to Frankfurt, Germany, on Lufthansa and service to Panama City, Panama, on Copa Airlines, to Tampa Bay.

The new incentive program in Orlando ultimately helped the airport draw a nonstop flight to Dubai on international airliner Emirates.

Tampa’s entry into the world of airline incentives didn’t come without controversy: Airport CEO Joe Lopano drew public criticism when he asked for permission to throw money at airlines after he arrived in Tampa in 2011. He eventually got the go-ahead, but it was new terrain for the airport.

Read more in the Tampa Bay Times here.

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Tampa Bay Times: What’s next for Tampa International Airport and CEO Joe Lopano?

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times.

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Joe Lopano has checked off nearly every item on his to-do list.

Since taking over as chief executive of the Tampa International Airport in 2011, he and his team have landed more than a dozen new flights, including a handful of high-profile international routes to Frankfurt, Panama City and most recently to Havana, Cuba. Lopano has also spearheaded the single largest renovation — a $1 billion overhaul — at the airport since the terminal was built in 1971.

The question now is what’s next, for the Tampa airport and for Lopano?

Read more in the Tampa Bay Times here.

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Could Tampa International Airport offer commercial flights to Cuba next year?

TAMPA — Charter flights from Tampa International Airport have flown hundreds of thousands of people to Cuba in just four years. But next year, thousands more could be headed to Cuba as the United States and Cuba iron out a deal to allow more than 100 regular commercial flights to and from the island and the U.S. mainland.

The Federal Aviation Administration will accept queries from airlines interested in offering commercial service to Havana and other destinations in Cuba. Havana Air announced recently that passengers could book flights to Cuba on its website starting in January. Silver Airways, a discount airline based in Fort Lauderdale, also announced its intent to offer flights to Cuba in 2016.

While no major carriers — like American or JetBlue — have said publicly that they’ll try to offer flights to Cuba, it would make sense to do so from Tampa International Airport, said Ken Qualls, CEO of Flight Management Solutions in Boca Raton, an aviation consulting firm.

“The general attitude has changed a lot — there’s a lot of excitement right now about going to Cuba,” Qualls said. “But it will be a very competitive and varied process for the FAA to develop.”

Since charter services began offering flights in 2011, more than 226,240 passengers have flown from Tampa to Cuba, said Chris Minner, vice president of marketing at Tampa International Airport. The airport has seen double-digit growth rates in the number of passengers using TIA to get to Cuba, Minner said. That includes a 16 percent spike in travelers as of October for 2015.

Read more here.

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Copa Airlines sees mixed results two years after launching Panama City flight in Tampa

TAMPA — Copa Airlines this month celebrated its second year offering direct flights to and from Tampa Bay and Panama City — a central hub that offers access to dozens of Central American and South American countries.

But unlike the other international flights out of Tampa International Airport like British Airways, Edelweiss and newcomer Lufthansa, Copa’s flight has had mixed results so far. And Tampa Bay continues to fall behind the state’s two larger metro areas, Miami and Orlando, when it comes to international travel.

Copa Airlines, which is a subsidiary of Copa Holdings, S.A., posted an average load factor, or the percentage of filled seats on airplanes, of 67 percent for its first full year in Tampa in 2014, according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. In Orlando, Copa’s load factor average was 92.3 percent last year. In Miami it was 87.9 percent.

“I’m sure they’re losing money. Airlines have to be pretty close to 85 percent load factors just to break even anymore,” said Ken Qualls, CEO of Flight Management Solutions in Boca Raton, an aviation consulting firm. “That said, it’s not uncommon for airlines in a major arena to expect load factors to taper off after the two-year or three-year mark.”

Read more here.

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Who’s getting paid to renovate Tampa International Airport? Lots of locals

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TAMPA — Tampa International Airport made it a priority to hire local construction firms when it came time to divvy up nearly $1 billion in renovation and expansion jobs.

o far that appears to be paying off.

Of the 293 subcontractors working on projects at the Tampa airport, 274 are local companies or ones with regional offices here. With nearly 9,000 construction jobs expected to be a part of the $953 million project over the next two years, local firms have won primary contracts for most of the $428 million that has been awarded so far.

Construction is nearly a third of the way complete and within budget so far.

Read more here.