PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport is gearing up for a busy travel week for Thanksgiving, and with that comes some warnings from the airport director.
He suggests people plan ahead and make sure they arrive early before their flights.
"I've been traveling since I was 3 years old so I think I can manage pretty well," said 11-year-old Dawson Gardner.
Gardner has traveled through the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport several times, and said usually things go pretty smoothly.
"There's nobody here and it’s so good to get in and out," said Gardner.
But from time to time, they run into some issues.
"People are everywhere and you’re jam packed and you’re trying to find out where you’re going and all that stuff," said Gardner.
"There's only two or three times a year, holidays, where it’s congested and that’s an issue," said Connie Deneweth, another traveler.
And with the holidays right around the corner, the airports are about to get a little crazier.
"We are not going to have parking spots for every single passenger…we currently have over 20 thousand passengers for that one week that are going to be departing out of the airport," said Mark Sprague, interim director of St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport.
Sprague said with limited parking at the St. Pete-Clearwater Airport, people need to plan ahead.
"Please try to find a ride or get dropped off, get picked up…whatever it takes because we just want to make sure that passengers have an enjoyable time," said Sprague.
If you don’t plan ahead, Connie Deneweth, said things can get hectic.
"Luggage being lost, I see people getting angry because their rental car was given away. That’s tough…and when you’re on vacation you have a limited number of days…it increases frustration," said Deneweth.
But earlier this week, Pinellas County Commissioners approved a new taxi-way to be developed on 130 acres of unused land, and next month county leaders will be discussing a new parking garage.
"That’s going to be a hopefully 2000 space parking garage, with approximately 350 surface parking…and from start to finish, from design, we should hopefully have that open by middle of 2027," said Sprague.
Cecilia Chesney said the improvements will help make traveling to and from the Tampa Bay Area much easier.
"The parking garage is going to help so many more people come through here swiftly because lets face it…if its not working, they will stop coming here," said Chesney.
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