A month after a local delegation lobbied British Airways to expand its Pittsburgh to London nonstop, the airline is doing just that.
British Airways plans to increase the frequency of the flight between Pittsburgh International Airport and London’s Heathrow Airport from four days a week to six days by May 14.
The Allegheny County Airport Authority, which operates Pittsburgh International, announced the expansion Thursday on its Blue Sky News blog.
British Airways currently operates the service on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. It will add a fifth flight on April 24 and a sixth on May 14. Once the additions have been made, the only day without a flight will be Saturday.
“We are delighted to be increasing our flight frequency from Pittsburgh to London next summer. As the only airline to operate a direct route between Pittsburgh and London Heathrow, these additional flights will give our customers even greater flexibility when travelling to Britain and beyond,” said Neil Chernoff, British Airways director of network and alliances.
The extra flights will cost the airport authority an additional $500,000 in subsidies beyond the $3 million it provided to the airline to launch the service in 2019, spokesman Bob Kerlik said.
British Airways’ decision to add frequency came about a month after the airport authority and tourism group VisitPittsburgh led a delegation to England in an effort to showcase the value of the flight and to lobby the airline to expand it.
Those on the jaunt included county Executive Rich Fitzgerald as well as 30 business and community leaders who paid their own way to make a case for more service.
“We’re delighted. It’s fantastic,” Mr. Fitzgerald said Thursday, adding the expansion is “indicative of how successful” the journey was.
The trip included a series of roundtable discussions in London on Oct. 6 to talk about the region’s business climate and to highlight opportunities in the Steel City to a British audience. The overall cost of the trip to the airport authority and VisitPittsburgh was estimated at less than $200,000, with the authority picking up all but about $50,000 of that.
It came after British Airways resumed the flight on June 3 after a 27-month hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We just had really good feedback from the folks who were there,” Mr. Fitzgerald said of the trip.
The airport authority estimated that the two additional days of service will generate another $12.3 million in economic impact.
Beyond that, Mr. Fitzgerald said it will provide continued momentum for the region and the airport in trying to recruit other carriers to take a chance on Pittsburgh.
“It gives us credibility. We can say, ‘Hey, if you give us this flight to city X, we’ll be successful. We’ll fill it up,” he said.
The London flight, he stated, has been doing well since its June restart. “It’s been full. It’s been utilized,” he said.
British Airways launched the service in April 2019 backed by the $3 million in subsidies to be paid over two years. It has already received half of that amount. The other half will be paid this year. Mr. Kerlik said the agreement had an option for another $500,000 in payments “which we have mutually agreed to as part of the additional service announcement.
“The economic impact alone from the addition is more than $12 million,” he said.
At this point, British Airways is offering the six days of flights from May 14 through October but not beyond that.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com
First Published: November 10, 2022, 5:17 p.m.
Updated: November 11, 2022, 3:09 p.m.
