Thanksgiving Rush Comes as Airlines Add Seats at PIT

As travelers take to the skies for the Thanksgiving travel season, airlines are adding capacity at Pittsburgh International Airport, almost reaching pre-pandemic levels.

For the seven-day Thanksgiving travel period from Tuesday, Nov. 21 through Monday, Nov. 27 more than 230,000 people are expected to pass through the airport – with seat capacity up 17 percent over last year – and nearly on par with 2019 levels.

“We’re looking forward to a busy holiday travel season as airlines continue to add flights to in-demand markets, making it easier for both families and loved ones traveling back home as well as Pittsburgh travelers looking for a warm-weather getaway,” said Bryan Dietz, Senior Vice President, Air Service & Commercial Development. “This puts us in line with pre-pandemic service and we expect to be even busier in the coming year.”

Monday, Nov. 27 is expected to be the busiest day of the holiday rush with nearly 40,000 people passing through the terminal. That will be the single busiest day at PIT this year in terms of scheduled seat capacity.

The Thanksgiving rush comes as PIT recently released travel data for October showing that passenger traffic is approximately 96 percent of 2019 levels. In terms of airline seat capacity, traffic is 99.9 percent of 2019 levels.

Recent route announcements include additional service to Orlando, Tampa, Cancun and Punta Cana. Spirit last week launched nonstop service to Miami, and Breeze added Ft. Myers.

Other recent announcements include nonstop service to Iceland on Icelandair and to San Diego on Southwest.

Including seasonal destinations, PIT offers 61 nonstop destinations across a variety of carriers. Nonstop destinations can be found by visiting FlyPittsburgh.com.