A WAITING AREA AT PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT | PHOTO BY BETH HOLLERICH

SSummer may be coming to an end, but the activities Pittsburgh International Airport is not letting up. Airports across the country are anticipating their busiest Labor Day travel weekend – always.

And at PIT, things are ablaze with activity immediately after the busiest July in over 20 years.

The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 17 million passengers at airports nationwide from Thursday, August 29, to Wednesday, September 4, with the peak day expected to be Friday, August 30.

The TSA has urged travelers to arrive at PIT three hours before departure to avoid crowds.

As for July’s numbers, 962,000 travelers flew to and from Pittsburgh – an 11.2% increase from July 2023 and 5.3% more than in 2019, before the pandemic severely impacted air travel. That was the highest number since the last days when US Airways had a hub in Pittsburgh.

“July was another very busy month as passengers continue to use flights, which shows the strength of our market,” said PIT CEO Christina Cassotis at the Allegheny County Airport Authority’s monthly board meeting on August 23.

Part of the growth at PIT is due to new routes launched this year by ultra-low-cost carriers to Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham, Boston, Houston-Intercontinental and New York-LaGuardia. New flights to Iceland and the resumption of nonstop flights to San Diego by Breeze Airways and Southwest also contributed.

The airlines are handling the larger crowds with larger aircraft, so Blue Sky Newsthe intelligence service of the PIT.

As a reminder, here are some nonstop routes that will resume this fall and winter:

On November 23, Delta Air Lines will resume nonstop service between Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City with daily, year-round nonstop flights.

On January 12, Southwest Airlines will resume nonstop service to Miami on select peak days and then daily through April.