Tampa Bay airports saw record-setting spring breaks

Looks like red tide didn't slow down our spring breakers.

Driving the news: Tampa International Airport and Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport both saw their busiest spring break seasons on record.

By the numbers: Nearly 2.5 million passengers traveled through TPA during the spring break period, according to airport estimates from checkpoint data. The airport smashed its 2019 spring break record by about 50,000 passengers.

• March 19 was TPA's busiest day on record with more than 90,000 passengers traveling through the airport. That weekend saw more than 178,000 passengers, also a record for the busiest weekend in TPA history.
• SRQ set a passenger record for March with 514,889, the highest number for that month in the airport's 84-year history, the airport announced. That's also a 16% increase year over year and a 10% increase from the past 12 months.

What's ahead: Both airports are expanding.

• Workers at SRQ broke ground on a new 5-gate terminal last month.
• TPA's fifth terminal, Airside D, is expected to be finished by 2027. Airport officials are hoping to use proposed federal funding on a new air traffic control tower.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to show TPA's fifth terminal is slated to be completed by 2027, not 2037.