The airport is on the west shoreline of
Tampa Bay, six miles (10 km) north of
St. Petersburg, Florida (the "birthplace of commercial air transportation"). Barely a decade after the pioneer flight of the
Wright brothers at
Kitty Hawk in 1903, the first tickets for airline travel were sold by the
St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line of
Tony Jannus to fare-paying passengers. Using a
Benoist XIV amphibious aircraft, the inaugural flight took place from a location near the downtown
St. Petersburg Pier. Mayor Abram C. Pheil of St. Petersburg and Mae Peabody of Dubuque, Iowa, were the first passengers, flying across the bay to
Tampa and, according to a
United Press account, reportedly reaching the maximum speed of during the flight. Other reports indicate that they reached an altitude of . This was the beginning of commercial air transportation anywhere in the world and is commemorated by a replica of the Benoist aircraft and a plaque at the airport terminal baggage claim area. Another replica is displayed at the St. Petersburg Museum of History adjacent to the Pier. Since 1991, the terminal holds the archives of the Florida Aviation Historical Society. In 1958, the name was changed to St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport because, according to airport manager "Bobo" Hayes, tourists didn't know where Pinellas County was. The airport was the original home to two of the first scheduled air freight airlines in the United States,
U. S. Airlines (dating to 1946) and
Aerovias Sud Americana (1947), which was also known as ASA International Airlines. U. S. Airlines had domestic routes to the northern cities, whereas ASA had routes to Latin America. One of ASA's specialities was flying livestock, and consequently the airport had animal pens to allow ASA to assemble the animals they were flying south.
Airline service: 1950s to mid-2000s During the 1950s until the mid 1960s, several major U.S. airlines served both St. Petersburg–Clearwater (PIE) and
Tampa International Airport (TPA), including
Delta Air Lines,
Eastern Air Lines,
National Airlines and
Northwest Airlines. The April 1957
Official Airline Guide lists 17 airline departures from PIE: ten by Eastern, six by National and one by
Mackey Airlines. Four departures flew nonstop beyond Florida, including an Eastern
Douglas DC-4 to Chicago and a
Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation to Pittsburgh. In 1956, Mackey Airlines
Douglas DC-4s flew to
Nassau, Bahamas, via Tampa and Fort Lauderdale. In 1959, a National Airlines
Douglas DC-7B flew to New York City
Idlewild Airport (now
JFK Airport) and Boston via Jacksonville. In 1960, Delta was operating "Flying Scot"
Douglas DC-6s on a St. Petersburg - Atlanta - Knoxville - Cincinnati - Chicago
Midway Airport routing. With the advent of the
jet age, runway 17/35 was extended north into Tampa Bay; the first scheduled jets were Northwest Airlines
Boeing 720Bs from Chicago in late 1961 (the 1961
Aviation Week directory says PIE's longest runways were 5,700 feet, but it appears 17/35 was 8,000 feet when the 720B arrived). The increased capacities of
Boeing 707 and
Douglas DC-8 jets prompted the
Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to approve consolidation of airline service for the Tampa Bay area at TPA in the early 1960s. In 1963, Northwest was flying
Lockheed L-188 Electra propjet service Miami–Fort Lauderdale–St. Petersburg–Atlanta–
Chicago O'Hare–Minneapolis/St. Paul–Fargo, ND–Grand Forks, ND–
Winnipeg, Canada. Eastern was the last scheduled airline at PIE during the mid-1960s and it ended flights from the airport in 1964. The year before, Eastern had been operating prop flights from St. Petersburg nonstop to Charlotte, Chicago O'Hare Airport, Cleveland and Louisville as well as direct one-stop service to Columbus, OH, Detroit and Indianapolis. Scheduled air service returned to PIE in 1972, when
Air Florida began
intrastate airline flights to Miami and Orlando with
Boeing 707s. Air Florida replaced its 707s with
Lockheed L-188 Electras out of PIE, and in 1974 was flying nonstop to Miami, Orlando and Tallahassee. According to the
Official Airline Guide (OAG), only one airline was serving St. Petersburg in the fall of 1979: regional air carrier Red Carpet Airlines operating
Convair 440 prop aircraft five days a week nonstop from Miami and two days a week nonstop from
Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. According to the OAG, by 1981 the airport still had only one air carrier operating scheduled passenger service: commuter airline Sun Air operating small
Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante turboprops with one weekday nonstop flight from Miami as well as one weekday nonstop flight from nearby Tampa. Jet service returned in 1982 with
Northeastern International Airways flying
Douglas DC-8 nonstop flights to
Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, New York. By 1983, Northeastern was flying
Boeing 727-100 nonstop flights to Fort Lauderdale and New Orleans, in addition to its nonstop service to Islip. Also in 1983,
People Express was flying nonstop to New York/Newark
Liberty International Airport with
Boeing 727-200s,
737-100s and
737-200s. Locally based regional air carrier
Atlantic Gulf Airlines was flying
Vickers Viscount turboprops nonstop to Miami in 1983, and by 1984 was operating
Convair 580 turboprops to Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Tallahassee. By 1984, Northeastern had added nonstop West Palm Beach jet flights as well as direct jet flights to Hartford/Springfield, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, San Diego and Tulsa. People Express then expanded its flights from the airport, and in 1985 was flying nonstop to Charlotte and New York/Newark as well as operating direct, no change of plane jet service to Boston, Detroit and Syracuse. Also in 1985,
Florida Express British Aircraft Corporation
BAC One-Eleven jets were serving PIE with four daily nonstops to its Orlando hub with direct flights to Columbus, OH, Fort Lauderdale, Indianapolis and Nashville via Orlando. In 1987,
American Airlines initiated nonstop mainline jet flights to its Raleigh-Durham hub while
Midway Airlines (1976-1991) commenced nonstop
Boeing 737-200 jet flights in 1988 from its
Chicago Midway Airport hub with direct one stop service from
Cleveland; however, by October 1989 PIE once again had no scheduled airline service.
American Trans Air (ATA) and
Air South began jet flights from PIE in the 1990s. In the fall of 1991, American Trans Air was the only airline serving the airport with just three nonstop
Boeing 727 flights a week from Indianapolis. By early 1994, ATA was operating nonstop
Boeing 757-200s from Chicago
Midway Airport, nonstop
Boeing 727-200s from Indianapolis, nonstop Boeing 727-200s from Milwaukee and weekly nonstop wide body
Lockheed L-1011 TriStars from Philadelphia. By late 1994, American Trans Air had expanded its service and was operating domestic nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale and St. Louis as well as international nonstop flights to
Nassau, Bahamas, in addition to its flights to Chicago Midway, Indianapolis and Milwaukee. ATA was primarily operating Boeing 727-200 jets on these services in late 1994 but was also operating larger Boeing 757-200 jetliners on some nonstop flights between the airport and Chicago Midway at this time as well. The Air South service to Miami in 1995 included up to five 737 nonstops on weekdays while at the same time commuter air carrier
Gulfstream International Airlines was operating twice daily nonstop flights to Miami with small
Beechcraft 1900C turboprops. In 1997,
Reno Air was operating "Gulf Coast Flyer" service nonstop to Gulfport/Biloxi with
McDonnell Douglas MD-80s. By 1999, the OAG listed four airlines operating jets to St. Petersburg: American Trans Air
Boeing 727-200 nonstops from Chicago Midway Airport and Indianapolis,
Canada 3000 Airbus A320 nonstops from
Toronto,
Nations Air Boeing 737-200 nonstops from Gulfport/Biloxi and
Royal Aviation Boeing 757-200 nonstops from Toronto. Also in 1999,
Air Transat, a Canadian-based scheduled and charter airline, was operating wide body
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar jets on its flights into the airport. In the late spring of 2004,
Southeast Airlines was operating nonstop
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jet service from the airport to Allentown, PA (ABE), Columbus, OH (LCK), Gary, IN (GYY), and Newburgh, NY (SWF). Southeast Airlines went out of business in the fall of 2004, while Air South had previously ceased serving the airport back in 1996, and subsequently went out of business as well. According to the
Official Airline Guide (OAG), five airlines were operating jet service into the airport in the spring of 2005 including two U.S.-based air carriers and three Canadian-based air carriers with
ATA Airlines (formerly American Trans Air) operating Boeing 757-200 as well as
Boeing 757-300 nonstop flights from
Chicago Midway Airport (MDW) and Indianapolis (IND),
CanJet operating nonstop
Boeing 737-500 flights from
Halifax, Nova Scotia (YHZ) and
Hamilton, Ontario (YHM),
Jetsgo operating
Fokker 100 as well as
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 nonstop flights from
Toronto (YYZ),
Skyservice Airlines operating nonstop
Airbus A320 flights also from Toronto (YYZ), and
USA 3000 Airlines operating nonstop Airbus A320 flights from
Chicago O'Hare Airport (ORD),
Cleveland (CLE),
Detroit (DTW),
New York Newark Airport (EWR),
Philadelphia (PHL),
Pittsburgh (PIT) and
St. Louis (STL).
Recent developments In September 2006,
Allegiant Air announced scheduled service from St. Petersburg–Clearwater to cities in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Allegiant's destination count from PIE has since increased to 59 airports in the eastern United States. In February, the Lansing, Michigan service shifted to
Grand Rapids, Michigan, with four weekly flights. Allegiant operates
Airbus A319 and
A320 jets on its flights from the airport. In 2009, the airport completed a US$22 million renovation, including, among other things, larger gates, new plumbing, and building passenger
jet bridges. In January 2015,
Silver Airways announced it was beginning service to PIE, but in March the company had cancelled its plans. As of 2021, the airport is planning to convert decommissioned runway 9/27 into a taxiway to enhance service for air carriers, the U.S. Coast Guard, and
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office aircraft. ==Facilities==