Work is underway on Tampa International Airport’s (TPA) Terminal D, an estimated $1.5 billion project that marks its first airside construction effort in nearly 20 years.
It functions as the airport’s international arrivals and departures facility, gate 16 on two levels Airside D will be built northwest of TPA’s main terminal, once home to the original Airside D that existed from the time the airport opened in 1971 until it was closed and demolished in 2007, the airport says. Since then, the area has been used as an overnight parking lot for aircraft.
Hensel Phelps is the contractor, with HNTB as the lead architect in association with Gensler. Design work for the approximately 600,000 square meter facility began in August 2023. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on December 18. TPA expects vertical construction to begin in late 2025, reaching the 75% mark by late 2027 before opening in 2028.
The design reached the 30% stage this month, according to the airport. The full design package is expected to be completed by October 2025, according to HNTB, which adds that the airport is expected to release bid packages by the end of March 2025 with a view to receiving grant funding federal for new rig grading, paving and fuel. passenger boarding bridges and a new shuttle guide structure from the main terminal to the new Airside D. The expansion will help TPA serve up to 35 million annually. passengers by 2037, he says. The new facility will include a mezzanine, two airline lounges and a new shuttle and guide system.
A $91 million enabling contract awarded by the airport’s owner, the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, at its December meeting allowed preparatory work to begin, including security fencing around the perimeter of the project site, concrete removal , establishment of contractor offices and public service works.
A new main terminal checked baggage screening system will be constructed to replace Baggage Screening Areas E and F in the existing West Airside areas and to incorporate additional baggage capacity for the new Airside D, which is connected to the Red Express Curbside project under construction.
Following the airport’s Blue Express Curbside project, ENR Southeast’s Project of the Year 2022, the Red Express Curbside project finished in July, marking a year of work remaining on the project. This includes the removal of the 1970s airport administration building, the addition of four new arrival lanes and four new departure lanes, and a new expressway building.
The Airside D project is the third of the three phases that make up the airport’s 2012 master plan. Several Phase 2 projects are nearing completion, including the Main Terminal Curb Extension, which will be completed in the summer of 2025, as well as the Red Express Curbside Project and a new central utility plant. The SkyCenter One office complex was completed in 2021.
