Nonstop flights from Pittsburgh to London return in 2022 via British Airways

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Nonstop flights from Pittsburgh to London return in 2022 via British Airways

Megan Guza | Monday, December 13, 2021 1:43 p.m.

Tribune-Review

British Airways’ first direct flight to Pittsburgh in over 20 years lands at Pittsburgh International Airport on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. A little less than one year later, the airline grounded the nonstop flights amid the exploding covid-19 pandemic. PIT officials announced the return of the flights starting in 2022 on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021.

British Airways will return to Pittsburgh International Airport next year, after the covid-19 pandemic grounded the transnational flights in 2020, officials said Monday.

Tickets for flights to London’s Heathrow Airport, which resume June 3, are available now.

The airline re-upped service in Pittsburgh in 2019 after a two-decade hiatus. British Airways pulled up stakes in 1999, and Pittsburgh International was left with no direct flights to Britain after U.S. Airways ended flights to London’s Gatwick Airport in 2004.

“We’ve said all along that it’s important that this flight succeeds, and we’re thrilled for a 2022 return during the busy summer travel season,” said Christina Cassotis, chief executive of the airport.

British Airways suspended flights in mid-March 2020 amid the exploding covid-19 pandemic. It missed several return dates set over the past two years as the pandemic has evolved.

The airline will return under the same incentive deal put in place upon its initial return in 2019: $3 million over two years.

Cassotis said the economic benefits of the service are far-reaching, and the four-times-a-week nonstop flight is projected to generate more than $50 million for the region per year.

Flights from Pittsburgh to London will fly Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, leaving at 9:50 p.m. and arriving in London at 10:10 a.m. the next day. Flights to Pittsburgh from London run the same days and depart at 4:45 p.m. and arrive at 7:50 p.m.

“We cannot wait to bring back our Pittsburgh route next summer,” said Marie Holditch, head of North American sales for British Airways.

Pittsburgh International officials highlighted the airport’s public health measures put into place as the pandemic has worn on, alongside steps taken by British Airways to mitigate virus risks, including a complete cleaning “from nose to tail every day.”

Flights will be on a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which seats 214 in three class sections. British Airways flies to more than 100 other destinations out of Heathrow.

“This flight is a big deal for our region,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. “The business and leisure connections between Pittsburgh and the U.K. are numerous, and this flight will be an economic driver for both.”

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