Passenger Traffic Up 4.3% at Pittsburgh International in May

Thanks to early resumption of Delta’s nonstop Paris flight, along with flight additions on Southwest to St. Louis and Allegiant to New Orleans and Savannah-Hilton Head, passenger traffic at Pittsburgh International Airport increased 4.3 percent in May.

Traffic for May 2016 totaled 737,823 passengers. May 2016 shows a 13.8 percent increase from the previous month and a 4.3% increase above May 2015, which had 707,596 total passengers. Year to date, all scheduled carriers combined are up 2 percent, and year to date total airport passenger traffic is up 1 percent. Through May 2016, 3,186,129 passengers traveled through the airport compared with 3,153,331 during the same time period in 2015.

Despite decreases in seats to Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Houston Intercontinental on American during first quarter 2016, the service gains on Allegiant, Delta and Southwest, as well as American to Cancun, have increased overall capacity and boosted numbers. Additional international traffic is also a factor, as total international passengers are up 40 percent year to date. All airlines except American and JetBlue experienced passenger increases in May.

“These numbers demonstrate how underserved our market has been and continues to be,” said CEO Christina Cassotis. “People are responding favorably to the new service to new destinations, and we are encouraged by this trend.”

Cassotis also noted that increases in passengers are expected to continue throughout the summer thanks to five new routes on Frontier that began in June, as well as a new nonstop flight to Los Angeles on Southwest that begins in August. Additionally, Vacation Express has announced new service to Montego Bay, Jamaica in 2017.

“New nonstop service always stimulates traffic in the market,” Cassotis said.