IAG Cargo to launch ‘only direct flight’ from LHR-PIT

U.K.-based IAG Cargo, the airfreight arm of the IAG Group, released news of its plans to launch “the only direct flight” from Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Pittsburgh Airport (PIT) in the United States – service that will commence on April 2 of next year, to operate four times per week, year-round.

The export-oriented U.S. hub is a new addition to the carrier’s network of 350 international locations, targeting the city’s technology, robotics, machinery and pharmaceutical industries, which the company said has seen “growth rates of nearly double the rate of Pittsburgh’s overall-private sector growth in recent years.”

Recently, the company has increased its effort to capitalize on demand for transportation of pharma products out of Europe. Last July, it expanded its “Critical” service, which caters to clients dealing with last-minute and out-of-hours bookings, to encompass temperature-sensitive cargo.

The new service, which will fly from LHR on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, will likely appeal to the carrier’s pharma-oriented clients who deal in trans-Atlantic trade.