Like it or not, Philadelphia is about to get a lot easier to reach.
Frontier Airlines is adding four new non-stop destinations from Pittsburgh International Airport, including a long-anticipated flight to the City of Brotherly Love.
Starting in May, flights will begin to Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth and Raleigh-Durham, Frontier and Allegheny County officials announced Thursday morning at the airport in Findlay.
“When I ran 12 years ago, even before I took office, I heard again and again — we need to have a cheaper flight, a competitive flight, from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. “And that connection is really important not to dismiss.
“Atlanta, Dallas and Raleigh are very important. But the Philadelphia flight is an early Christmas present for the folks of southwestern Pennsylvania.”
Flights to Atlanta and Raleigh-Durham begin May 17 and will be in service four times a week. Philadelphia and Dallas-Fort Worth flights begin May 16, with two flights a day to Philadelphia and three a week to Dallas-Fort Worth.
American Airlines is the only current flight option to Philadelphia from Pittsburgh, with service offered four to five times a day. But ticket prices are more expensive — round trip fares start at $226, according to aa.com — than what Frontier offers. Southwest Airlines once provided competition, but dropped the flight after demand was deemed “extraordinarily weak” by company execs in 2011.
Frontier is offering introductory rates starting at $19, said Josh Flyr, the low-cost airline’s vice president of network and operations design.
“In the case of Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, existing airfares are sky high, and turnpike tolls alone can cost between $100 and $150 on a round trip basis,” said Mr. Flyr. “With Frontier Airlines fares starting at $19 to Philadelphia, we're excited to get Western Pennsylvanians out of the car and back flying again.” He did not say how much tickets would cost once the introductory rates expire.
Frontier’s expansion triples its destinations from the airport, which now flies to Orlando and Denver.
“We're thrilled to see a significant investment,” said Bryan Dietz, senior vice president of air service and commercial development at the Allegheny Airport Authority. “Frontier has a lot of choices that they can look at when placing aircraft, looking across the world and throughout the Caribbean. It means a lot to us that they picked Pittsburgh International Airport for this expansion.”
County Councilman Sam DeMarco said the new destinations will bring jobs and money to the region.
“Today's expansion announcement will also have a great impact on our local economy,” Mr. DeMarco said. “We estimate about $72 million in support of nearly 700 jobs in our region.”
Ciara McEneany: cmceneany@post-gazette.com
First Published: December 14, 2023, 7:19 p.m.
Updated: December 16, 2023, 4:32 p.m.
