In terms of flight delays, this one was a doozy.
Twenty-seven months after its last flight out of Pittsburgh, British Airways finally is back, with its nonstop to London set to resume Friday evening after a very long hiatus.
The airline suspended the service on March 15, 2020, less than a year after it started, as COVID-19 swept through the globe, shutting down economies and forcing travel restrictions.
For a long time, it appeared as if the coveted flight, one Pittsburgh International Airport and the region worked tirelessly to secure, would never return as British Airways missed several deadlines for a possible restart.
But one who didn’t buy into that thinking was Christina Cassotis, CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which operates Pittsburgh International.
“I never doubted it,” she said Thursday of the flight’s return. “I knew how well we performed after it came back after 20 years. I knew that we had a good market and that the community stepped up [to support the service].”
The first flight from London’s Heathrow Airport is expected to arrive at 7:50 p.m. Friday. The return jaunt from Pittsburgh is scheduled to take off at 9:50 p.m. and touch down in London at 10:10 a.m. Saturday.
Just as it did before being suspended, the service will operate four day a week — Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
Beyond the convenience of having a nonstop option to Europe, the return of the flight represents a “big endorsement that Pittsburgh is a market that deserves” such service from one of the top international carriers in the world, Ms. Cassotis said.
“We benefit from that,” she said. “These guys have confidence in the region. British Airways believes in the market.”
Airport officials have estimated that the flight will mean more than $50 million a year for the Pittsburgh economy.
To secure the service three years ago, the airport provided $3 million in subsidies to British Airways over two years. It has paid half of that so far.
For those who might wonder whether the airline will bolt once the subsidies run dry, Ms. Cassotis said that British Airways has already signed a new seven-year lease that helps fund the airport’s $1.4 billion modernization.
“I think that’s a pretty good commitment,” she said.
To help pump up interest in Pittsburgh and the flight’s return, a local delegation traveled to Great Britain a couple of weeks ago to speak to about 50 travel agents, planners and tour operators.
The group not only included Ms. Cassotis and county Executive Rich Fitzgerald, but representatives from the local brewery and bicycling communities, the Carnegie Museums, the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, and others.
Having community reps speak about the city’s charms rather than officialdom was a departure from the way things have been done in the past and turned out to be “a real success,” Ms. Cassotis said.
On this side of the Atlantic, airport officials have been reaching out to the business community, travel agents and tour operators, and freight forwarders and others in the cargo business to stress the flight’s importance and the need to use it — or lose it.
“We can’t let up. We need this to continue to be a success,” Ms. Cassotis said.
It’s very easy, she stressed, for airlines to move planes to more profitable markets if a flight isn’t performing.
“We understand we’re always being judged on how we’re doing relative to other markets,” she said.
One top Pittsburgh-based corporation that’s pleased to see the flight return is coatings giant PPG.
“PPG has a significant presence in the U.K. with more than 2,500 employees and this flight provides direct access to this key country and others throughout Europe. It also provides our colleagues and European leadership a more efficient way to visit PPG's global headquarters here in Pittsburgh,” company spokesman Mark Silvey said.
Before the pandemic, PPG employees took about 300 trips a year between Pittsburgh and the United Kingdom, where the company has significant operations with five production facilities, he pointed out.
“We anticipate again taking advantage of this important flight to connect with customers and colleagues in the U.K. and Europe for in-person opportunities,” he said.
While Ms. Cassotis had no data on advanced bookings for the British Airways return engagement, she said the airline seems to be “very happy” with what it’s seen so far.
The response for the summer has been even better than it was when the flight first launched in 2019, she said.
The airport also has been working with freight forwarders to fill the belly of the plane with cargo. So far, that has proven to be beneficial, with the flight’s cargo space filled for months out, Ms. Cassotis said.
But there is still work to be done on the passenger and cargo fronts.
“We’re already focused on the fall and winter,” Ms. Cassotis said. “We’ve got to keep that plane full.”
Fares for the nonstop can vary wildly. Based on a quick search Thursday, a roundtrip economy flight with one checked bag leaving June 14 and returning June 21 cost $2,193. The same flight leaving July 19 and returning July 26 could be had for $1,623.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First Published: June 3, 2022, 9:45 a.m.
Updated: June 3, 2022, 3:08 p.m.
