TAKING OFF
Rates for Pittsburgh International Airport airlines increasing next year
Airlines flying out of Pittsburgh International Airport are facing a nearly 16% increase in their rates next year under a $142.2 million budget approved Friday.
The cost to board a passenger at the Findlay airport will jump from $10.32 to $11.97, or 15.9%, in the 2023 spending plan unanimously adopted by the Allegheny County Airport Authority board.
It marks the second time in three years that the per-passenger cost has increased for the airlines, although the airport authority stated that the new rate is still below the 10-year average of $13.
The $142.2 million budget represents a 10.1% increase over this year’s $129.1 million spending plan. Authority officials attributed the increase to inflation and to rising costs as travel and operations pick up to near pre-pandemic levels.
The per-passenger cost that airlines pay had dropped to $10.32 this year after a spike to $12.33 in 2021 because of the pandemic and an accompanying plunge in travel.
Even at next year’s $11.97, the authority said the cost is still 20% lower than the high hit in 2011, when the rate reached $14.97.
Before 2021, the rate hadn’t risen in seven years for the carriers because the authority used revenues from natural gas drilling and state aid to keep the cost down. Another factor was paying off old debt associated with the construction of the midfield terminal, which opened in 1992.
A recent study by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy showed that airport natural gas revenues have dropped significantly since peaking at nearly $26 million in 2017.
Even with next year’s hike for the airlines, the airport’s cost per passenger will be in line with or below national averages, said Eric Sprys, the authority’s chief operating officer.
He cited a survey by Airports Council International, which showed the average per-passenger cost for airports in the U.S. and Canada was about $17.50.
The Allegheny County Airport Authority is predicting that 2023 passenger volume will be 90% of pre-pandemic levels. Christina Cassotis, the authority’s CEO, told the board Friday that traffic is currently about 84% of what it was in 2019 before COVID-19 hit.
At the same time that costs are going up, so are revenues. The authority is predicting a 27% increase to $93 million in non-aviation revenue like parking and concessions next year.
A spokesman said the increase in next year’s budget and per-passenger cost had nothing to do with a $1.4 billion airport modernization project that includes a new terminal for ticketing, security and baggage handling now under construction. Debt payments on that project don’t start until 2025.
Also Friday, the authority board approved a $68 million capital budget for 2023.
The $142.2 million budget represents a 10.1% increase over this year’s $129.1 million spending plan. Authority officials attributed the increase to inflation and to rising costs as travel and operations pick up to near pre-pandemic levels.