Extraordinary Ordinary: Tampa International Airport

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Tampa International Airport is one of the best in the country and it has the hardware to prove it. It was recently voted third in Condé Nast Traveler's annual Readers' Choice Awards for Top Airport in the World.

"We want to keep our profile high and favorable among people and we've managed to do that miraculously with all this construction going on. Typically what passengers cite is that it is so easy to get around. How easy it is to get in and out, how easy it is to get to their gate. A lot of passengers know it's easy, they just don't know why." Emily Nipps, spokesperson for TIA told Fox 13 News.

We wanted to know why. Why is TIA so easy and accommodating? For that, we had to look at the first days of the airport in the design phase of the 60's.

"People had to carry their luggage from car to gate so the idea was to make it so no one would walk more than 700 steps from their car to the gate to get on the plane. To make this possible, with a spoken hub design. We have a main terminal and we have this spokes that are the terminals." Nipps said.

The main reason TIA still is a finalist for top airport in the country is because of this design, but also with the billion-dollar makeover to concessions, landside, as well as a new rental car area and people mover, they're hoping to soar to the top.

"The first impression is very important. We think we'll be up there and we won't rest until we're number 1!" Nipps said.