Revenues for the first half of 2012 have taken flight at Tampa International Airport.
Airport officials report a 3.6 percent increase in revenues, or about $3 million, over last year at this time.
Airport CEO Joe Lopano attributes the good fortune to an increase in passengers, higher parking revenues, concession sales and a nearly 20 percent increase in international flights.
"We had the fastest growth rate of all the other competitive airports in Florida over that last four months," Lopano said. "So we’ve turned a corner and we’re growing faster than our competitive set and so we think that’s an encouraging sign."
The second half of the year may be just as lucrative, with the launch of Edelweiss flights to Zurich, Switzerland later this month.
It’s the first new European flight at TIA in 14 years and is expected to generate $30 million a year in revenue for the Bay area.