St. Pete-Clearwater airport breaks passenger records amid expansion

St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) has spent much of 2025 breaking passenger travel records in a historic growth streak, officials say, and by the end of November had already seen more passengers travel through its doors in 2025 than ever before. 

That’s why the Pinellas County Commission, which oversees the airport, voted unanimously late last month to build a new taxiway for the airport and open the door to future expansion and development.

November was the airport’s 10th consecutive month to break all-time passenger travel records, the airport says in a release. The number of travelers in 2025 increased over last year’s number by 15% as did the year-to-date passenger count, which as of the end of November was 2.56 million. 

In 2024, 2.46 million passengers traveled through PIE all year — including the month of December. 

PIE records show that July 2025 was the busiest month in the airport’s history, with a total of 320,746 passengers traveling through its doors. That’s compared to 295,268 in July 2024. 

A slew of new flights could be fueling the surge in travelers. Last winter, budget airline Allegiant introduced nonstop flights from PIE to three new destinations: Gulf Shores, Alabama; Colorado Springs; and Columbia, South Carolina. 

Airport leadership say the increase in passengers has strained existing facilities. PIE airport owns the largest parcel of undeveloped property in Pinellas County — a 130-acre parcel adjacent to its facilities that used to be the Airco Golf Course before it closed in 2011. Much of that property, at 13690 Stoneybrook Drive in Clearwater, has been classified as a high-risk flood zone, though, limiting the land that can be developed to about 80 acres, county commission records say.

Before any new development can begin, a new taxiway must be built. On Nov. 18, Pinellas County Commissioners unanimously voted to hire Hubbard Construction Company to build the taxiway, which could be completed as early as May 2027, county records show. 

Other projects on the horizon include a 2,000-space parking garage slated to replace PIE’s 76-spot “Strawberry PIE” parking lot in Summer 2027 and a $110 million terminal improvement project to add more seating inside the airport’s terminals along with new jet bridges.