Florida airports rank in top five in latest study

The travelers have spoken, and have landed three Florida airports top-five spots in a recent survey.

Tampa International Airport was ranked second in North America among large airports in the 2016 North America Airport Satisfaction Study by J.D. Power published Thursday.

Only the Portland (Ore.) International Airport ranked higher than Tampa, the airport’s second consecutive year in the No. 1 spot, according to the study.

Orlando International Airport ranked fourth and Miami International Airport rounded out the top five spots.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport came in at 23rd in the same category.

The study, fielded from January to October, was based on responses from nearly 39,000 North American travelers who traveled through at least one domestic or international airport with both departure and arrival experiences in the past three months, according to a release from J.D. Power. It measured the overall traveler satisfaction by looking at several fields including accessibility, terminal facilities, security check, baggage claim and food.

The large airport average score rested at 724 on a 1,000 point scale, a one-point improvement from 2015, according to the study. Tampa scored at 775 while Orlando, which scored 751, edged out Miami by just a single point. Fort Lauderdale scored just below the average at 720.

In the medium airport rankings, Fort Myers/Southwest Florida and Jacksonville international airports ranked third and fourth, while Palm Beach fell at seventh. All three airports earned a score of 780 or higher, rising above the medium airport average of 760.

This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Florida airports rank in top five in latest study."