Nonstop flight from PIT to London won’t be available until October

Efforts to restart the subsidybacked British Airways nonstop flight between Pittsburgh International Airport and London have hit another bit of turbulence.

The airline has pushed back the return date of the flight to Oct. 2, said Bob Kerlik, spokesman for the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which operates Pittsburgh International.

British Airways had hoped to resume the service last Sunday, but those plans fell through as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to batter the airline and travel industries worldwide.

“Airlines and airports are faced with travel restrictions globally and we appreciate that airlines, specifically carriers flying internationally, will likely continue to adjust dates due to evolving government travel restrictions,” Mr. Kerlik said. “We continue to work with all our airlines regarding changes as conditions evolve.”

British Airways officials could not be reached for comment.

The airline stopped flying from Pittsburgh on March 15 in part because of travel restrictions imposed between Europe and the United States to try to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Like most airlines, British Airways has had a hard time staying afloat amid the disruption the virus has caused. Last week, IAG, the airline’s owner, reported a record loss as passenger numbers plummeted by more than 98% in the second quarter.

It is seeking to cut 12,000 jobs in

an effort to reduce costs.

Pittsburgh International already has lost one transatlantic flight for the year — the seasonal twice-weekly route between Pittsburgh and Frankfurt, Germany, which typically runs from May through September.

To secure the service, the Allegheny County Airport Authority in 2017 gave Condor two years’ worth of subsidies totaling $500,000. The airline decided to continue the flights in 2019 after the incentives ended. It was poised to do so again this year before the pandemic hit.

The British Airways nonstop, which began in April 2019, was an even bigger coup for the airport. The authority had been courting the airline for years before finally getting a yes. It had not had a nonstop to London since 2004.

Landing the flight, which was available four days a week, cost the authority $3 million in incentives over two years.

As another sign of the damage the pandemic is causing, British Airways suspended plans to start nonstop service from

Portland, Ore., this summer.

Nonetheless, Michael Boyd, a Colorado-based aviation consultant, doesn’t expect the airline to abandon Pittsburgh. In fact, he’s banking on the opposite.

“They need Pittsburgh badly. It’s markets like Pittsburgh that’s going to get them out of this mess,” he said.

“Pittsburgh can feed a lot of people through London and vice versa. Western Pennsylvania has a lot of business relationships throughout Europe that British Airways can access pretty effectively through Pittsburgh.”

Even before the pandemic hit, Pittsburgh International was experiencing a bumpy ride with international service.

In 2018, Delta Air Lines dropped its nonstop to Paris after a 10-year run. In January 2019, Wow Air stopped flying to Iceland, prompting the airport authority to seek the return of $187,500 of the $800,000 in subsidies it gave the carrier in 2017 in exchange for two years of service.