Starting today, several airlines are adding service at Pittsburgh International.
Pittsburgh International officials are preparing for a busy summer travel season as we embark on the month of July.
Allegheny County Airport Authority's Bob Kerlik tells KDKA Radio why we'll see an uptick in passenger capacity this month.
“Airlines are responding to the market demand here in Pittsburgh,” said Kerlik. “So, we’re seeing robust travel demand for people that are leaving and coming to our market and that’s going to continue as we move forward, particular through the summer.”
Airlines adding more seats in July include: Southwest with 298,000, American with 262,000, Spirit with 144,000, Frontier with 49,000 and Breeze with 29,000.
If you’re traveling, this week especially, you’re asked to get to the airport 2 to 3 hours early to get through security.
A high volume of passenger is current beyond the capacity of the TSA checkpoint at this time.
Peak travel times are from 4 a.m. – 7 a.m. Monday – Friday.
If you’re traveling on the road for the 4th of July holiday, Triple-A projects just under 71 million people are expected to travel this week and weekend.
This year’s projected number of travelers for that period is a 5 percent increase compared to 2023 and an 8 percent increase over 2019.
Triple A's Jim Garrity says gas prices, which are hovering around $3.63 a gallon here in Pennsylvania, are a non-factor when it comes to summer travel.
“Even when gas prices were at their record high, which was in 2022, it was not a deterrent for people to go take road trips,” said Garrity. There were actually more people taking road trips and saying that they’d do other things with their day-to-day lives because they wanted to prioritize leisure travel and we’re definitely not seeing that slowing down.”
He says the busiest day to be on the roads this week will be Wednesday.