Pittsburgh airport getting daily flights to Austin
Two emerging tech cities are improving connections with the announcement of increased flight service between Pittsburgh and Austin, Texas.
Southwest Airlines announced last week it will be increasing service between Pittsburgh International Airport and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport starting this fall.
The Texas-based carrier will expand flights from weekend-only to daily flights between Pittsburgh and Austin starting on Oct. 5, according to the Allegheny County Airport Authority. The authority said this is the first time Pittsburgh will have daily flights to Austin in more than 25 years.
Southwest began service between the cities in November 2021 as a seasonal, holiday route, but the airline announced in February it would be expanding to year-round service on the weekends. And this month, the airline decided to further boost service with one daily round trip year-round between Pittsburgh and Austin.
The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2022 said both Austin and Pittsburgh are growing and high-performing regions in the international technology industry. Austin has emerged as a top 10 ecosystem in North America, while Pittsburgh is receiving praise for its rapid growth.
Nonstop one-way tickets between Pittsburgh and Austin are listed for as low as $168 on Southwest’s website.
After low air traffic during the early stages of the pandemic, Pittsburgh’s airport appears to be rebounding some, and Southwest is contributing to that growth.
With the October addition, the airline will have 29 total departures from Pittsburgh, which is up from 21 compared to the same time in 2022, according to the airport authority.
Southwest is also adding another daily, nonstop flight between Pittsburgh and Orlando starting in October. The airline will have four daily flights between the two cities starting this fall.
Other upcoming Southwest service additions from Pittsburgh include:
- Seasonal, weekly service resumes to Cancun starting March 11.
- Myrtle Beach, S.C., service will resume June 4 and then increase from weekend-only to daily on July 11.
- Houston-Hobby service resumes April 16 and increases from once weekly to six times a week on July 11.
- Atlanta service will increase from once daily to twice daily starting July 9.
- Service to Denver increases from twice daily to three times daily starting July 11.
- Phoenix flights increase from weekend-only to daily service starting Sept. 5.
Ryan Deto is a TribLive reporter covering politics, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County news. A native of California’s Bay Area, he joined the Trib in 2022 after spending more than six years covering Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh City Paper, including serving as managing editor. He can be reached at rdeto@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.