- published: 06 May 2015
- views: 17539
An international airport is an airport that offers customs and immigration facilities for passengers travelling between countries. International airports are typically larger than domestic airports and often feature longer runways and facilities to accommodate the heavier aircraft commonly used for international and intercontinental travel. International airports often also host domestic flights. Some, such as Frankfurt Airport in Germany are very large; others such as Fa'a'ā International Airport in Tahiti, are quite small.
Buildings, operations and management have become increasingly sophisticated since the mid 20th century, when international airports began to provide infrastructure for international civilian flights. Detailed technical standards have been developed to ensure safety and common coding systems implemented to provide global consistency. The physical structures that serve millions of individual passengers and flights are among the most complex and interconnected in the world. By the second decade of the 21st century, there were over 1,200 international airports and almost two billion international passengers along with 50 million metric tonnes of cargo were passing through them annually.
Tampa International Airport (IATA: TPA, ICAO: KTPA, FAA LID: TPA) is a public airport six miles west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. This airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority. It has been praised for its architecture and Landside/Airside design of a central terminal ("landside") connected by people movers to satellite gates ("airsides"), a pioneering concept when designed in the late 1960s. The airport was called Drew Field Municipal Airport until 1952.
Tampa International Airport is a hub for Silver Airways. Southwest Airlines carries the largest share of TPA passengers, operating a peak-season schedule of 113 daily flights. The airport presently serves 80 non-stop destinations, including international service to the Bahamas, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Panama, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and to destinations throughout the Caribbean. Tampa is also one of only two airports in the United States to host regularly scheduled charters to three Cuban cities: Havana, Holguín and Santa Clara. The airport handled 18,815,452 passengers in 2015, making it the 31st busiest airport by passenger movements in North America. In 2011, it was called one of the 10 best airports by CNNGo.
Wide awake
I'm on a plane out of town
Fly away
From the weight of the world
On the ground
I'm international
But I don't know where to go
Hopefully where summer days
Can melt these winter bones
I'm international
And you're orbiting my brain
I'm reduced to writing nothing
All over napkins on the plane
Wide awake
I'm on a plane out of town
Taking pictures of myself
In the mirror on wall
Trying hard not to make my space
The loneliest place of all
Early warning all across the sky
Clouds are rolling in on your light
Any change from here would be
The wisest change of all
Any place from here up here
Would be the finest place to fall
Wide awake
I'm on a plane out of town
I'm losing track of myself
On all the time zone lines
And if I daylight save
Do I jump ahead or fall behind?
And I'm fine 'cause I know
Any plane I ride
Can fly me home
And I'm fine 'cause I know
You know, I know
It's easy to see
Clouds were built for dreams
Because nothing up there
Is as easy as it seems
I step out
And try to walk around
As I fall, I look up
And wonder why it let me down
I'm international
That's twice the speed of sound
I just hope I take off from here
Before I hit the ground
If I could get to heaven
By an airplane in the sky
We would always be in love
And we would always love to fly
Wide awake
I'm on a plane out of town
Taking pictures of myself
In the mirror on wall
Trying hard not to make my space
The loneliest place of all
And I'm fine 'cause I know
Any plane I ride
Can fly me home
And I'm fine 'cause I know
You know, I know
And I'm fine 'cause I know
Any plane I ride
Can fly me home
And I'm fine 'cause I know
Any plane I ride
Can fly me home
You know, I know