After spending $500,000 to help secure it, Pittsburgh International Airport may end up losing a coveted European flight to COVID-19.
The pandemic has prompted Condor Airlines to curtail service to all U.S. cities except Seattle this summer.
That means Condor’s seasonal twice-weekly flight between Pittsburgh and Frankfurt, Germany, will be grounded this year — and perhaps beyond.
If there’s any good news, it’s that Pittsburgh International’s other subsidy-backed transatlantic flight — the British Airways nonstop to London — is scheduled to resume Aug. 2.
But even that is no sure thing, dependent as it is on the easing of COVID-related travel restrictions between Europe and the United States.
The suspension of the Condor flight comes as European carriers struggle with the same economic and demand issues their U.S. counterparts have faced because of the pandemic, according to one expert.
“They all have a need to cut costs,” said William Swelbar, chief industry strategist for Richmond,Va.-based Delta Airport Consultants. “I think we can say the transatlantic market right now is as clear as mud.”
Before the coronavirus hit, Condor’s service to Frankfurt was scheduled to operate from Pittsburgh International from May 22 through Sept. 21. The flight has been a favorite of German companies with headquarters or offices in the region. Flights have averaged between 85% to 90% full.
Allegheny County Airport Authority officials, who operate Pittsburgh International, gave Condor two years’ worth of subsidies totaling $500,000 to launch service to Frankfurt in 2017.
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 all but shut down air travel throughout much of the world.
That has raised questions about the future, particularly given that Condor was struggling financially even before COVID-19. The airport is banking on a quick return.
“Condor has been a great partner with us in the Pittsburgh market. Obviously the pandemic has brought challenges to plans for this summer’s service. Nonstop service to Germany remains a key target for our market and we look forward to service returning next year,” said Bryan Dietz, the authority’s vice president of air service development.
Mr. Swelbar said that may not be a sure bet. He noted, for example, that many U.S. carriers are operating at only 20% of their international capacity.
“It really speaks to all of the question marks in the market right now,” he said. “To try to forecast international demand, it’s so complicated given the restrictions and COVID. Clearly the demand is not there. I’m sure [airlines are] just conserving cash and not doing a lot of flying right now.”
Mr. Swelbar said it may take a full year to assess whether demand is going to return in any meaningful way.
British Airways and Europe’s two other big carriers — Lufthansa and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines — are engaged in restructuring discussions, he said. British Airways has talked about plans to cut as many as 12,000 jobs from its 42,000-person workforce because of the lack of demand.
“If labor discussions are that difficult right now, if they can get things done in a couple of months [to bring back Pittsburgh], then God bless them,” Mr. Swelbar said.
Landing the British Airways flight was a huge coup for Pittsburgh International, which hadn’t had a nonstop to London since 2004. The airline started the service, available four days a week, in April 2019, backed by $3 million in incentives over two years.
“As travel restrictions ease, we anticipate British Airways will restart nonstop service to London Heathrow this summer,” airport authority spokesman Bob Kerlik said.
The flight is available for booking starting Aug. 2, according to the British Airways website.
As Mr. Kerlik noted, the resumption of the flight is contingent on the lifting of restrictions that now require American travelers coming from Europe to go through one of 13 U.S. airports, Pittsburgh not being one of them.
At the same time, President Donald Trump has talked recently about lifting the bans that have prevented Europeans from traveling to the United States.
Mr. Swelbar said the pandemic has been particularly brutal to airports like Pittsburgh that fought hard in recent years to get transatlantic nonstops. “All of these medium-sized markets were so excited about finally being in position to get service and to sustain service and then COVID. Overnight, those dreams and aspirations of London service are question marks,” he said.
Even before the pandemic, Pittsburgh had been running into turbulence involving international flights.
The airport lost a Delta Air Lines nonstop to Paris in 2018 after a 10-year run. And in January 2019, Wow Air stopped flying nonstop 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 from Pittsburgh.
Mark Belko: [email protected] or 412-263-1262.
First Published June 10, 2020, 6:00am
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