Tallahassee International Airport’s Annual Economic Impact Surges to $859M

May 10, 2023

Data recently released from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) reports Tallahassee International Airport's (TLH) annual economic impact grew to $859 million, up 43 percent from $599 million in 2019.

"We have made tremendous progress since establishing the goal in 2019 to firmly position Tallahassee as a competitive, innovative and sustainable economic hub. With a total annual economic impact approaching $1 billion, the City's strategic investments have grown the Tallahassee International Airport into one of the largest economic engines for the North Florida region," City Manager Reese Goad said.

Owned and operated by the City of Tallahassee, numerous projects are underway to increase the airport's economic impact and provide an exceptional experience for all travelers. Major projects are in progress, including a $28 million International Processing Facility, Foreign Trade Zone designation, rental car quick turnaround service facility, runway enhancements, terminal upgrades and more. In addition to infrastructure development, TLH announced the addition of air service from JetBlue earlier this year.

While focused investments supporting the City's Five-Year Strategic Plan objective to increase TLH's economic impact on the region to $1 billion in 2024, TLH is also on track to reach the City's goals of serving 1 million passengers and processing 22 million pounds of cargo annually, with 100 additional acres of land leased to businesses.

"It's an exciting time at TLH. Passenger traffic is up, and we are growing public and private partnerships at the regional, statewide and national level that are making a real difference for our community and the region. In addition to the significant growth in TLH's annual economic impact, we've added more than 1,200 airport-supported jobs since FDOT's 2019 aviation impact study," City of Tallahassee Aviation Director David Pollard said.

The FDOT Florida Aviation Economic Impact Study, conducted with data from 2021 and released this month, assesses the on-airport, visitor spending, off-airport air cargo, military aviation and industry reliance impacts of the state's aviation system. For the latest updates from Tallahassee International Airport, follow TLH Airport on Facebook and Twitter or visit TLHAirport.com.