TAMPA (970 WFLA) -- Tampa International Airport sets a new all time record... more than 19 and a half million passengers went through the terminal in 2017.
Spokesperson Emily Nipps says that happened in spite of a major weather event... Hurricane Irma, which shut down the airport for three days.
The previous high water mark for T-I-A was set in 2007, before the Great Recession caused air travel to go down to a low of 16 million passengers in 2010. The airport has added several new domestic flights in the past year, and international traffic has more than doubled in the past six years.
Nipps says they've been preparing for more business, adding more shops and restaurants and a brand-new rental car center. Next, they plan to expand curbsides and add a hotel and other commercial development.