Florida hurricane: Full list of airports closing as Hurricane Milton intensifies into Category 5 storm with evacuations ordered

Hurricane Milton intensified to a Category 5 on Monday evening (7 October) and a Florida mayor issued a stark warning that residents will die if they don’t evacuate. The potential “once in a lifetime” storm is bearing down on the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to remain “extremely dangerous” as it makes landfall in Florida by Wednesday (9 October), hitting the densely populated Tampa Bay area first.

“If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re gonna die,” Tampa mayor Jane Castor said on CNN. Hurricane Helene was a “wake-up call,” but Milton could be “literally catastrophic,” she said. The storm is threatening air travel in and out of Florida this week.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Monday that it was "closely monitoring the path" of Milton and its impacts on Tampa International Airport and other stops throughout the state. Travellers are encouraged to check the FAA's flight status dashboard online and contact their airline ahead of Milton making landfall.

Florida's largest airport, Miami International Airport, said on Monday that it is "closely monitoring" Milton but plans to remain open, adding in a post to X, formerly Twitter, that the airport is "committed to ensuring your travel plans go smoothly." Travellers are encouraged to confirm their flight status with their airline amid the storm.

Palm Beach International Airport is open as of Monday evening, as are Jacksonville International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Listed below are the Florida airports that have planned cancellations as of 7.50 p.m. ET Monday.

Tampa International Airport

The airport said it will suspend operations starting at 9am ET Tuesday and "reopen when safe to do so." TPA will not be open for public use during that time, nor will its parking garages. The airport is in Evacuation Zone "A" in Hillsborough County, which is a mandatory evacuation zone.

Hillsborough County

The three other public airports in the Tampa Bay region—the Peter O. Knight, Tampa Executive and Plant City airports—will also be closed to the public during the same time frame as TPA.

St. Pete-Clearwater International

The airport, which is in Pinellas County, said it will close "after the last flight departs Tuesday" and remain shut down Wednesday and Thursday because of Milton. The airport's administrative offices are closed Monday through Thursday. PIE is also in a mandatory evacuation zone.

Orlando International Airport

Commercial operations at the airport will halt at 8 a.m. ET Wednesday, although the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) said in a press release that the airport will not be "closed to emergency/aid and relief flights and will remain open as necessary." Commercial flights will resume "as soon as possible based on damage," the release added.