Delta resuming Tampa to Amsterdam route after COVID caused cancellation

After about a five-year hiatus, you can fly directly to Amsterdam from Tampa again.

Tampa International Airport announced Friday that Delta Airlines was starting a daily, nonstop flight to the Dutch capital Oct. 26 and that it would continue until March 29.

Tickets for those flights go on sale Saturday, May 4.

Delta previously flew this route from May to October 2019, according to an airport spokesperson. Seasonal service was due to resume in April 2020, but didn't because of the COVID-19 shutdown.

But the nonstop flight is not just about getting Floridians to the Netherlands. It’s also about getting Europeans and others to the state.

According to a statement from Tampa International, Schiphol Airport is one of the busiest in Europe with more than 100 destinations in the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines network, with flights connecting to points in Europe, Delhi, Mumbai, Dubai and Nairobi. (KLM is Delta’s trans-Atlantic partner.)

That sort of connection could mean, according to some estimates, an $107 million impact on the region, the airport says.

With that kind of potential, the airport says Amsterdam has been a targeted destination for it and local tourism groups since the last time there were flights in 2019.

Passengers will fly the route aboard a 282-seat Airbus A330-300, according to Tampa International.

Inbound flights are scheduled to arrive in Tampa during the afternoons at 4:55 p.m. and depart for Amsterdam three hours later for a morning arrival in the Netherlands, at 7:55 a.m.