PITTSBURGH – Summer air travel options are increasing for people flying from Pittsburgh International Airport, and passenger traffic continues to increase as a result of new nonstop service.
Continuing a four-year trend of growth, total passenger traffic increased 5.7 percent for the month of May. Throughout the summer, travelers will have additional nonstop options to popular international and domestic destinations including Iceland, Germany, the Caribbean, Florida and the West Coast.
July 2017 will mark a key milestone for the airport by offering more than 1 million nonstop seats for the month, a mark that has not been reached since August 2008.
"New flights continue to stimulate our market and create additional options for business and leisure travel that have not been consistently available,” said Allegheny County Airport Authority CEO Christina Cassotis. “We’re pleased to see this growth by the airlines and the positive response from travelers. We expect it’s going to be a busy summer here.”Along with resumption of Delta’s nonstop seasonal service to Paris on May 25, multiple carriers continued to grow with Allegiant adding twice weekly seasonal service to Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, Frontier resuming daily service to Denver, and Spirit launching new service to Myrtle Beach and Dallas/Ft. Worth.
Additionally, Spirit will begin nonstop service to Los Angeles, along with that already offered by Southwest, on July 13. WOW air launched service to Iceland and Condor Airlines launched service to Germany in June.
In May 2017, 774,620 passengers traveled through the airport compared with 732,633 in May 2016. Scheduled flights increased by more than 10 percent and available seats also jumped nearly five percent. Those trends are expected to continue throughout the summer with new service on WOW, Condor and additional offerings from Spirit.
New service added in the last 12 months by Southwest, Allegiant and Frontier, as well as capacity growth to Miami on American and Boston on JetBlue contributed to the growth in seats and flights
American has increased the frequency of service to Miami to three daily flights. This service represents an additional option when traveling to South Florida and, via American’s Miami hub, as well as several Caribbean and Latin American destinations.
Total passengers are up 5.8 percent year to date, as just over 3.3 million people have traveled through the airport thus far in 2017. Through May of 2016, 3.1 million people had traveled.
About Allegheny County Airport Authority:
Allegheny County Airport Authority, which manages Pittsburgh International Airport and Allegheny County Airport, is committed to increasing air service, improving customer service and inspiring growth in the Pittsburgh region. Its 2016 Annual Report detailing growth and improved financial position can be found at flypittsburgh.com/AR16 .
Pittsburgh International Airport serves more than 8 million passengers annually on 16 carriers. During the past two years, the airport has increased its nonstop destinations more than 80 percent to include 68 airports. Air Transport World named Pittsburgh International its 2017 Airport of the Year. Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast both named Pittsburgh International a Top 10 Domestic Airport in 2016. In addition, TripAdvisor ranked Pittsburgh International Airport a Travelers’ Choice Favorite for Shopping in 2016.