Pittsburgh International Airport Traffic Report for August 2015: New Flights on Vacation Express, Allegiant and Southwest contribute to growth
Boosted by new flights to Grand Bahama Island on Vacation Express/Sunwing, Myrtle Beach on Allegiant and Dallas Love Field on Southwest, total passenger traffic, aircraft operations and available seats at Pittsburgh International Airport continue to show year-over-year increases.
In August, total passenger traffic totaled 738,161. August 2015 showed a 1.3 percent increase over August 2014 which had 728,392 passengers. Year-to-date total airport passenger traffic is up just under one percent. The airport also recorded 12,747 aircraft operations (take‐off & landings) in August 2015 compared to 11,652 in August 2014, a 9.4 percent increase.
August 2015 scheduled flights also increased by approximately 12 percent and available seats by nearly six percent, the result of new flights on Allegiant, Sun Air Express, and OneJet, all commencing service at PIT in 2015. Delta also operated expanded daily international service to Paris during the peak summer travel season, as well as additional flights to Cancun and Punta Cana.
In reaffirming the Allegheny County Airport Authority’s bond rating at A- in September, Fitch Ratings of New York cited stabilized traffic performance and favorable carrier diversity as factors in their evaluation.
“We are pleased to see that passenger traffic is growing and has become more stable,” Authority CEO Christina Cassotis said. “The flight additions and increase in seats and operations are evidence of carriers’ growing confidence in the Pittsburgh market.”
As of Oct. 9, Pittsburgh International Airport serves 51 destinations nonstop with an average of 171 weekday departures.