Tampa International Airport adds nonstop service to San Francisco, Reykjavik

October 17, 2016

    To the great joy of Tampa Bay’s extensive technology community, Tampa International Airport (TPA) announced in July that it landed nonstop service to San Francisco. The daily nonstop flights on United will commence on February 16, 2017. The route is expected to give a considerable boost to Tampa Bay tourism and economic development as well, with officials exploring new opportunities for marketing the region to West Coast businesses and leisure travelers.   "We saw significant growth of traffic in between the two cities. And United is in a growth mode, so this flight made sense," said Jim Ferea, United Airlines managing director of domestic planning. "Tampa is fast becoming a center for technology and we wanted to connect the city with the largest city for technology."   Earlier this month, TIA CEO Joe Lopano announced that Icelandair would begin direct service to Keflavik, near the capital city of Reykjavik, in September 2017. The new flight, which will take a little over 7 hours from Tampa, will allow for connections to 25 other European destinations including London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Paris.   Icelandair will depart from TIA on Monday and Thursday evenings. Return service will depart from Keflavik on Sunday and Wednesday afternoons, with same-day arrival in Tampa Bay at 9 pm.   TPA, consistently ranked as one of the top airports in the nation, has been busy adding nonstop service to domestic and international destinations since Lopano’s arrival in 2011. Lopano wasted no time pursuing new carriers and direct flights, and soon secured nonstop service to Seattle on Alaska Airlines, a direct flight to Zurich, Switzerland on Edelweiss, and direct flights to Panama City, Panama and Frankfurt, Germany on Copa Airlines and Lufthansa, respectively.