Airport Experience® News - Pre-Conference Issue 2026

DIRECTOR’S CHAIR

WARD: In terms of passenger traffic, what did you see in 2025 and what are you expecting this year? STEPHENS: Like a lot of markets, we’re seeing a little bit of headwind because of the global environment and some of the uncertainties with the economy. But for Tampa, as an O&D market, we are still doing really well. We’re expecting for [2026] to have close to 3% passenger growth. [We expect to finish 2025] at roughly 26 million passengers. Over the next 10 years, we’re expecting almost 10 million [additional] people to come through Tampa International, so we’re preparing for that growth with the addition of Airside D, which will have 16 gates. We broke ground on that project several months ago. For the Tampa Bay region as a whole, over that same 10 year period of time, we’re expecting another 750,000 more people to move to this region, so it is really going to be something that we plan for, not only as an airport, but as a community as well.

WARD: You mentioned international growth. Is that your main focus in terms of adding new air service? STEPHENS: We’re very aggressive on adding international flights but we’re also looking at some other areas on the map domestically, particularly out on the West Coast. And from a more micro level internationally, there are a lot of opportunities in the Caribbean, and also in Latin America, which we have been aggressively pursuing. WARD: Can you share a bit about the Airside D project? STEPHENS: We have an anticipated opening in Q4 of 2028. A lot of enabling work is underway. We’ll start going vertical with the structure in spring. It’s going to be state of the art, with two lounges, a Delta [Air Lines] lounge and a common use lounge, and with 16 gates. WARD: Is that expansion needed right now, or is that what your projections call for?

STEPHENS: We believe that with what we’re doing with our air service program, that some of that is going to be needed immediately – it would have already been online had we not had the delay with Covid. From our vantage point, we’re growing at a clip…that we certainly could have used some of that gate capacity now in order to really support our aggressiveness in pursuing additional routes. WARD: You mentioned technology and passenger experience upgrades. Can you dive in a bit deeper and talk about what you’re bringing into both the current terminal and the new Airside D? STEPHENS: We’re looking at things that impact passenger efficiency and flow. For Below: Gate demand at Tampa International Airport is high, and the airport is in the early stages of a new, 16-gate Airside D development to help ease congestion and allow for more flights.

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AX NEWS FEBRUARY 2026