Delta beefs up Tampa schedule for college football championship

Delta Air Lines is beefing up its schedule to Tampa ahead to accommodate college football fans for that sport's "big game."

The carrier will add eight extra round-trip flights to Tampa, which is hosting this season’s championship game for the College Football Playoff. The Monday game (Dec. 9) pits defending champion Alabama against Clemson in a rematch of last season’s title game.

Delta’s additional Tampa flights will be split between Alabama and South Carolina, the states that are home to each of the championship game participants. From Alabama, Delta will fly two extra round-trip flights from both Birmingham and Huntsville. From South Carolina, all of Delta’s special college football flights will operate from the Greenville-Spartanburg airport.

Meanwhile, officials at Tampa International Airport say they’re ready for the extra passengers expected for the game.

“We’ve been planning as an airport since last February, with the main focus on the team arrivals this Friday and a flood of fan departures on Monday,” Tampa airport spokewoman Emily Nipps says to Today in the Sky.

The airport currently is decked out in College Football Playoff National Championship paraphernalia, which includes banners, logos and even countdown clocks.

Nipps says hundreds of people are expected to great the teams’ charter flights when they arrive to the airport on Friday. Additionally, she says Tampa also will “have a local high school band playing and youth football players forming a welcome tunnel to greet the Alabama and Clemson players and coaches.”

Scroll down for the full schedule of Delta’s additional Tampa flights around the college football championship game (all times local):

Birmingham to Tampa 

Jan. 7: Depart 10 a.m., arrive 12:45 p.m. (Boeing 757)

Jan. 8: Depart 10 a.m., arrive 12:45 p.m. (Boeing 737)

Tampa to Birmingham 

Jan. 10: Depart 8 a.m., arrive 8:45 a.m. (Boeing 737)

Jan. 10: Depart 1:30 p.m., arrive 2:15 p.m. (Boeing 757)

Huntsville to Tampa

Jan. 7: Depart noon, arrive 2:45 p.m. (Boeing 757)

Jan. 8: Depart noon, arrive 2:45 p.m. (Boeing 757)

Tampa to Huntsville

Jan. 10: Depart 9 a.m., arrive 10 a.m. (Boeing 757)

Jan. 10: Depart 3 p.m., arrive 4 p.m. (Boeing 757)

Greenville-Spartanburg to Tampa

Jan. 7: Depart 10 a.m., arrive 11:45 a.m. (Boeing 757)

Jan. 7: Depart 3:30 p.m., arrive 5:15 p.m. (Boeing 757)

Jan. 8: Depart 10 a.m., arrive 11:45 a.m. (Boeing 757)

Jan. 8: Depart 3:30 p.m., arrive 5:15 p.m. (Boeing 757)

Tampa to Greenville-Spartanburg

Jan. 10: Depart 8 a.m., arrive 9:45 a.m. (Boeing 757)

Jan. 10: Depart 10 a.m., arrive 11:45 a.m. (Boeing 757)

Jan. 10: Depart 1:30 p.m., arrive 3:15 p.m. (Boeing 757)

Jan. 10: Depart 3:30 p.m., arrive 5:15 p.m. (Boeing 757)

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