Across the Pond
MOON TOWNSHIP — Pittsburgh experienced its own British Invasion Tuesday evening.
A British Airways jet touched down at Pittsburgh International Airport. The flight symbolized the start of a regular route over the pond — making it the first in two decades.
“The Brits will come, I promise you,” declared Simon Brooks, British Airways' senior vice president for North America, during a news conference at Pittsburgh International Airport celebrating the landing. “And we'll be connecting all you good people to Britain.”
The move marks the aviation company's decision to land in American cities that are deemed to be midmarket, touching down in Austin, Texas; San Jose, Calif.; Nashville, Tenn.; and New Orleans, along with Pittsburgh.
Arthur Pang, government affairs manager with PPG, took the multihour flight from London.
“A little bit of Butler in this plane,” Pang said, noting that the paint and windows were made by PPG, which has its North American Architectural Coatings headquarters in Cranberry Township.
Tuesday's touchdown in Pittsburgh signaled the start of four-times-a-week service to Heathrow Airport. It's the first regular airline service between the two cities in nearly 20 years.
“We'll pick up a lot of business in Butler through these flights,” said Jack Cohen, president of the Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau. “It's good for us. I also met tour operators who said they wanted to bring groups of people to our county.”
Cohen said groups will tour communities here, adding that he met travel writers on the flight who were interested in writing about the county.
The revived route comes amid several losses for the city's airport. Delta ended its Paris service in September and Wow Air stopped offering flights to Iceland and then shut down, according to reports. And amid these losses, Allegheny County and airport officials point out that Heathrow is a doorstep to the rest of the world as it is the second-busiest airport on the planet by international passenger traffic, serving more than 180 destinations in 90 countries, according to a press release from Pittsburgh International.
British Airways credits these regular flights to low-cost upkeep of the Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner aircraft. The model offers three classes, including 35 flat business-class beds, 25 premium economy and 154 economy seats for the estimated eight hour flight, according to a press release issued by the company.“The Dreamliner has been a game-changer in the industry,” said Nicolas Krohne, British Airways' vice president of sales for North America, in a prepared statement. “Ultimately, it has allowed British Airways to grow in a very strategic and measured way.”Flights will be Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. But in the '90s, flights to England were a daily occurrence. Between the 1980s and October 1999, British Airways flew daily nonstop from Pittsburgh to London-Gatwick. The flights were canceled for economic reasons.“I think this sends a signal that Pittsburgh is back,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald in a prepared statement. Fitzgerald was part of a Pittsburgh delegation on the inaugural flight that included Pittsburgh airport CEO Christina Cassotis, VisitPITTSBURGH CEO Craig Davis, Allegheny Conference CEO Stefani Pashman and other regional leaders, including those from the Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau.While the savings from the more fuel-efficient Dreamliner is credited with the route's creation, the state also helped by giving British Airways $3 million in Economic Development Authority funding over a two-year period.
