Tampa Airport’s New Airside D Will Be Home To Delta, With A Big Sky Club

Tampa International Airport (TPA) has a special place in my heart. I grew up in Tampa, so it used to by home airport back when I’d do mileage runs. My parents still live in Tampa, so it’s an airport I return to all the time. On top of that, it’s just generally an awesome mid-size airport — it’s so easy to use thanks to the central concourse, with several smaller terminals.

Tampa Airport recently previewed its first new terminal in 20 years, and I’m really excited about it! I first wrote about this several weeks ago, but want to provide an update, as details have just been revealed about the terminal’s first tenant.

The basics of the new Tampa Airport Airside D

Tampa Airport’s new Airside D is expected to open to the public in 2028, so the bad news is that we’ll have to wait at least a few more years before this becomes a reality. Groundbreaking and early stages of construction started in very late 2024, even though the design hasn’t yet been finalized.

Airside D is intended to help the airport grow from 25 million to 35 million passengers per year by 2037, so it’s a vital part of the airport’s overall vision for expansion.

The new Tampa Airport Airside D is expected to cost around $1.5 billion to build, and will feature:

• A total of 16 gates, including an international passenger arrival processing area, meaning this will be the new terminal for international flights
• An orthogonal shape with 600,000 square feet, for greater space and operational efficiency; it’ll be connected from the main terminal by a shuttle system, as is the case with the current setup
• A mezzanine level for two airline lounges with views of the airfield and the bay
• Shopping and dining locations at the center of the airside, offering 360-degree views of the gates
• A large open space featuring intuitive wayfinding and natural light

The airport has released renderings of the design concept for Airside D. The renderings show soaring ceilings, bright interiors, and an international arrivals corridor that wraps around the building, and more. The one thing to note is that the design process hasn’t been complete, so these images are subject to change as the design evolves.

Delta named as first tenant of TPA Airside D

We’ve known for some time that Tampa Airport Airside D would be getting two lounges, though we didn’t actually know who the tenants of the airside would be. Well, there’s now a major update. It has just been revealed that Delta will be one of the primary tenants of Airside D.

Delta will have at least six gates in the new airside, and will also be building an 18,000 square foot Sky Club. That’s pretty exciting for Delta, since the airline will have at least six of the 16 gates in the airside, if not more.

More broadly, I’m excited to see the lounge portfolio at Tampa Airport grow, and I’m curious to see what kind of terminal “musical chairs” we see.

Currently Tampa has only three lounges — an American Admirals Club in Airside F, a Delta Sky Club in Airside E, and the International Club Lounge in Airside F (used by Virgin Atlantic). Those are the only options, and there are no other lounges.

While I love Tampa Airport’s small concourses for the purposes of easily getting from the curb to the gate, the various concourses aren’t connected airside, so this isn’t ideal in terms of lounge access. For example, airlines like Discover and Edelweiss depart from Airside F, but can’t offer their premium passengers any lounge access.

Now that we know that Delta is moving to Airside D, I can’t help but wonder what this means for the overall terminal dynamics:

• I think it’s likely that American and United won’t be moving to Airside D, since it’s unlikely they’d have the available gate space, with Delta taking at least six of the 16 gates, plus international flights departing from there
• This means that the Delta Sky Club in Airside E will become vacant; could we see United move from Airside A to Airside E, and take over the space of the former Delta Sky Club?
• With that in mind, I suspect the second lounge in Airside D may not be an airline lounge, but will instead be a contract lounge that’s accessible with Priority Pass, since that’s good for passengers in general, and it’s also valuable in terms of all international airlines having somewhere to send premium passengers
• While I’d love to see it, I suspect that Tampa Airport won’t be getting a credit card lounge, like an Amex Centurion Lounge, Capital One Lounge, or Chase Sapphire Lounge; however, you never know…

I wonder if we’ll see Delta expand its network in Tampa, or if the carrier is happy with its current growth. Right now, Delta offers flights to Amsterdam (AMS), plus joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic flies to London (LHR).

Bottom line

In 2028, Tampa Airport will be getting its first new concourse in 20 years, with the opening of Airside D. This will be the airport’s new international terminal, and it’ll be over 600,000 square feet, will feature 16 gates, and will have two lounges.

We’ve now learned that Delta will be one of the primary tenants in this concourse. Delta will have at least six of the 16 gates, and will also have an 18,000 square foot Sky Club.

What do you make of the plans for Tampa Airport Airside D?