- February 14, 2025
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Delta Air Lines will get top billing when Tampa International Airport opens its long-anticipated Airside D in 2028.
The Atlanta-based carrier has signed a 20-year deal with the airport to use at least six gates and operate one of two lounge areas in the terminal currently under construction.
It already uses six gates and has a Delta Sky Club on Airside E.
The Hillsborough County Aviation Authority’s board approved the contract with Delta Monday morning.
Delta, the airport says in a statement announcing the agreement, is the longest-serving domestic airline at Tampa International and has been flying in and out of Tampa Bay for 65 years.
It currently travels to 13 destinations and last year had an average of 36 departures per day. Over the past 10 years, according to the statement, Delta and its partners have carried almost 33 million passengers within the U.S. and more than 1 million internationally.
Airside D will be Tampa International’s fifth terminal and the first one built in about 20 years.
The $1.5 billion, 600,015-square-foot terminal is being built in the same spot as the previous one torn down in 2007. Construction officially began in December.
Plans for the 16-gate, two-level terminal call for glass boarding bridges, a mezzanine, two lounges, an international passenger arrival processing area, shopping and dining and a new shuttle system.
The airside is the third — and final —phase of Tampa International’s Master Plan.
The first two phases included a redevelopment of the main terminal as well as the construction of the rental car center, the central utility plant and the SkyCenter One office building. The work also included the SkyConnect Automated People Mover and a roadway expansion.