University Park Airport Adds Special Event Flights Surrounding Select PSU Sporting Events

CENTRE COUNTY/Pa — The University Park Airport in Centre County will be offering limited special event flights to and from Atlanta, Nashville and Birmingham this fall.

They are built around Penn State sporting events, one at home and one on the road. However, with the Delta variant spreading, the excitement is matched by concern.

Penn State Football will host Auburn this fall, bringing flights in from Birmingham and Atlanta during that week.

A PSU hockey matchup in Tennessee will also garner flights to and from Nashville in October.

University Park Airport Director Bryan Rodgers says a previous football game served as a predecessor for planning purposes.

“We knew the matchup of Penn State-Auburn would be a big draw from our experience with Penn State-Alabama back in 2011," he said. "It’s a testimony to the continued partnership between the University Park Airport, the airport authority and, and our airline partners to make these types of things available.”

Rodgers says UP Airport is thrilled to see the industry bounce back after a rough stretch.

“2019 was a record year for University Park Airport in terms of passenger planes and the bottom dropped out in 2020 with the pandemic," he recalled. "We’re happy to see that travel is back on the path to recovery and there’s demand for travel, so we’re happy to have these additional flights.”

However, the pandemic isn’t done, as the CDC says the more contagious Delta variant is now the dominant strain in the us. The Borough of State College is still confident in their businesses to remain safe, but asks visitors to respect their rules.

“Our local businesses have, have and will continue to do a great job of taking safety concerns and, and requiring mask wearing where needed, and we ask those who are visiting there: be respectful, that’s really what this comes down to, be respectful of the community members here, be respectful of the businesses that are continuing to try to operate," said Doug Shontz, the Assistant to the State College Borough Manager. "This Delta variant is scary, it is, it is spreading, and we need to keep an eye on those numbers around here.”

Shontz says the borough is excited, but remains attentive to the pandemic.

“It's very much a concern,” he admitted. "Our community and our businesses are doing everything they can to make sure that, that we're a safe place for visitors to come visit."

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