Airports are planning for busy months ahead as analysts expect travel will continue to rebound from pandemic lows.
Pittsburgh International recently restarted or added nearly 20 nonstop flights to spring break destinations, including Cancun and Key West.
Pittsburgh International Airport
The airport says 6.3 million travelers came through its doors in 2021, unsurprisingly up from 2020. That's 65 percent of 2019's numbers, with some busier travel months in 2021 matching 2019.
Airport officials anticipate even bigger numbers in 2022.
Erin Francis-Cummings with Destination Analysts agrees, saying interest in travel continues to bounce back.
"We're seeing record levels of openness to travel inspiration, the optimism that they are going to take more trips this year and spend more on travel," she said.
Though travel numbers in 2021 were promising, they had their ups and downs with the introduction of vaccines, followed by the spread of new COVID-19 variants.
Francis-Cummings says the Omicron variant seemed to deter travelers less.
"Omicron hit, which did have an impact, but Omicron didn't have the same impact on American's feelings about travel that Delta did," she said. "That largely has to do with vaccines. American travelers are highly vaccinated."
She says Pittsburgh is also seeing encouraging numbers as a travel destination. A Destination Analysts survey showed 11 percent of travelers said they're likely to travel to Pittsburgh in the next few years.
