Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport Sees 26.4% Increase in Passenger Boardings

PITTSTON TWP. — Passenger boardings at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport increased 26.4% last month compared to April 2024, driven largely by a more than 300% increase in boardings on Breeze Airways flights.

Airport Director Carl Beardsley Jr. shared those positive figures Thursday with members of the bicounty airport board, updates of the sort having become common at the board’s monthly meetings as officials enjoy a continuing trend of increased passenger activity. Figures Beardsley shared in March showed boardings in January and February increased 47.6% and 32.8%, respectively, compared to January and February of 2024. Total boardings in 2024 also increased considerably, by 30.9%, compared to the year prior.

April’s 22,556 total boardings surpassed April 2024’s total by 4,704, with Breeze flights accounting for the lion’s share, 3,071, of that overall increase. Breeze, which added new services from Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Fort Myers and Tampa, Florida, since last April, saw boardings increase nearly 330% last month compared to the same month the year prior.

Those new Breeze services complemented the carrier’s service to Orlando, Florida, which launched from AVP — the Pittston Twp. airport’s Federal Aviation Administration codename — in late January 2024. The Orlando service marked the return of local direct flights to Florida for the first time in six years, with Allegiant Airlines’ prior services from AVP to the Sunshine State having ended in January 2018.

Beyond the Breeze success at AVP, boardings on American Airlines and United Airlines flights last month were up 5.1% and 21.2%, respectively, compared to April 2024, while boardings on charter flights were down slightly from 163 to 145.

Contributing to the overall climb in passenger departures was a 33% jump in total seat availability, with the added Breeze flights also accounting for most of that increase. Asked about those and other positive trends, Beardsley lauded Breeze but said American and United “are doing a fantastic job as well.”

“We couldn’t be happier,” he said.

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