Pittsburgh Soars: Remarkable Air Travel Surge Marks a Two-Decade High

Holiday travel propelled Pittsburgh International Airport to its peak annual passenger count in nearly two decades as December numbers increased by 5.1 percent compared to the previous year, aided by a delayed Thanksgiving travel season along with Christmas and New Year spikes.

December’s figures brought PIT to a total of 9.95 million passengers for 2024, eclipsing the 2019 count of 9.8 million by more than 166,000 passengers, or 8.1 percent, indicating the first instance where the airport’s yearly traffic exceeded pre-pandemic rates. This also represents the highest annual total for PIT since 2006, when 10 million passengers traveled through the airport and US Airways was still the prevailing airline.

A historic number of Pittsburgh residents used PIT, as over 9.7 million individuals began and concluded their journeys in Pittsburgh last year. This marks the highest origin-and-destination (O&D) figure – non-connecting travelers – in the history of the airport since 1980. It underscores a significant transition from the airport’s prior era as a major hub for US Airways, which primarily handled connecting passengers – travelers moving from Point A to Point B while changing flights in Pittsburgh.

“There’s a substantial change in that percentage,” stated PIT CEO Christina Cassotis during the Allegheny County Airport Authority’s monthly board meeting on January 17, adding that PIT, “is a robust origin-and-destination airport.”

Allegiant, United and Spirit planes at PIT on October 10, 2024. (Photo by Beth Hollerich)

The growth has been supported by PIT’s persistent efforts to broaden its air service offerings by including a variety of carriers, enhancing competition in the Pittsburgh arena, and maximizing options for both corporate and leisure flyers.

No airline holds more than a 30 percent market share at PIT, which is notable compared to the era when US Airways accounted for 90 percent of the airport’s passengers. Southwest Airlines (26.6 percent) and American Airlines (22.2 percent) lead the airport’s carriers by market share, followed by Delta Air Lines (16.9 percent) and United Airlines (14.8 percent). Ultra-low-cost airlines – Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and Sun Country Airlines – collectively comprised 15.3 percent of the airport’s total passengers in 2024, an increase from 14.3 percent in 2023.

“We continue to witness a very strong, diversified portfolio,” Cassotis emphasized. “This applies not just to [the number of] carriers but also to the types of carriers as well.”

Significant domestic service expansions at PIT in 2024 included Breeze Airways and Southwest Airlines initiating seasonal, nonstop routes to San Diego last summer, a destination that had not been serviced since 2018 and one of PIT’s most sought-after unserved locations prior to its addition. Frontier Airlines established nonstop, budget flights to Philadelphia in May, a first for PIT in over a decade. In November, Delta Air Lines reinstated daily, year-round service to Salt Lake City for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Further expansions are on the horizon for 2025. In April, American Airlines will commence daily nonstop flights to Los Angeles and JetBlue will reintroduce service to New York-JFK. Southwest Airlines resumed nonstop routes to Miami in January, and Allegiant Air will launch service to Phoenix on February 7. Additionally, Breeze Airways is broadening its services to various routes in 2025, including Los Angeles, Portland, Maine, and Raleigh-Durham.

PIT’s international traffic exceeded 195,000 international travelers in 2024, reflecting a 30 percent rise from 2023, driven by Icelandair launching seasonal flights to Reykjavik, Iceland, in May along with British Airways’ ongoing expansion of its year-round flights to London Heathrow. International travel from Pittsburgh is anticipated to rise further in 2025 as British Airways upgrades service to London Heathrow to daily starting March 30 and Icelandair resumes its seasonal Reykjavik operations a month earlier in 2025, with flights returning on April 17.

Icelandair and British Airways aircraft stationed on PIT’s Concourse C on June 28, 2024. (Photo by Evan Dougherty)

PIT’s cargo operations also experienced growth in 2024 as volumes surpassed pre-pandemic levels established in 2019. Over 200 million pounds of cargo were transported through PIT last year, reflecting an increase of nearly 5 percent from 2023 and over 16 percent compared to a decade earlier.

While FedEx remains the cargo leader at PIT with a 45 percent share, UPS increased its stake to 33.4 percent in 2024, attributed to additional capacity introduced by the carrier following its acquisition of the United States Postal Service contract last spring. Amazon Air also expanded its share from 10 percent to 14.7 percent at the airport. British Airways has further contributed to PIT’s cargo growth, serving as a vital connection to the global freight market, with its London service now accounting for 3.2 percent of the airport’s overall freight.