PIT Passenger Traffic Report For December 2009

PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT PASSENGER TRAFFIC REPORT FOR DECEMBER 2009

• FOUR AIRLINES REPORT GROWTH IN 2009 vs.2008
• SIX AIRLINES SHOW GROWTH IN DECEMBER 2009 vs. DECEMBER 2008

PITTSBURGH, PA (February 12, 2009) – Four airlines at Pittsburgh International Airport (www.FlyPittsburgh.com) reported increases in passengers in 2009 compared to 2008 according to the scheduled airline traffic report issued by the Allegheny County Airport Authority. Of those four airlines, AirTran Airways led the way with an increase of passenger traffic close to 25 percent.

Including charter passengers, a total of 8,031,175 passengers traveled through Pittsburgh International Airport. That is a 7.8 percent decrease in passengers compared to 2008 (8,031,175/8,710,291; 7.8 percent). The majority of loss can be attributed to the more than 20 percent decrease in passengers by US Airways, which equals almost 600,000 fewer passengers.

For 2009, AirTran led the way posting a remarkable 24.8 percent increase (658,080/527,349; 24.8 percent). Southwest (1,509,547/1,465,277; 3.0 percent); United (778,606/773,468; 0.7 percent); and Myrtle Beach Direct Air (31,194; 27,686; 12.7 percent) also posted gains.

Airlines reporting decreases in traffic for 2009 included US Airways (2,296,561/2,880,602; 20.3 percent); Delta (892,889/978,141; 8.7 percent); Continental (524,058/553,619; 5.3 percent); Northwest (476,121; 510,663; 6.8 percent); American (430,819/451,279; 4.5 percent); JetBlue (176,971; 198,719; 10.9 percent); USA3000 (108,456/180,767; 40.0 percent); Midwest (71,708/81,315; 11.8 percent); Air Canada (32,878/44,129; 25.5 percent).

“The origination and destination traffic at Pittsburgh International Airport continues to demonstrate strength. It is how the Airport Authority was able to win Delta Air Lines’ nonstop Pittsburgh-Paris flight and United’s nonstop service to Los Angeles and San Francisco. With the support of Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and the Allegheny Conference, we have made successful proposals that added and maintained popular routes,” said Bradley D. Penrod, Executive Director and CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority.

In 2010, American is adding flights to Chicago in the spring and increasing the size of its aircraft heading to Dallas. JetBlue will be adding service to Boston, which, by spring, will total three daily flights to one of our most important business markets. Also air fares, which have dropped more than 30 percent since the start of the decade, continue to be well below the national average.

For the month of December 2009, a total of 636,067 scheduled passengers were enplaned and deplaned at Pittsburgh International Airport. Compared to December 2008, scheduled passenger traffic was down 4.3 percent for the month (636,067/664,880; 4.3 percent).

For December 2009, six airlines showed an increase compared to December 2008, with four airlines reporting increases of more than 20 percent. United Airlines led the way for the month with 27.6 percent increase (65,699/51,486; 27.6 percent). AirTran (71,970/58,024; 24.0 percent), Southwest (118,210/114,976; 2.8 percent), JetBlue (14,984/12,198; 22.8 percent), Midwest (6,021/4,963; 21.3 percent) and Myrtle Beach Direct Air (945/749; 26.2 percent) also reported increases.
SkyWest, which began service at Pittsburgh International Airport on December 4, 2009, reported 6,377 passengers for the month.