Philadelphia International Airport prepares for a summer like no other

With April’s national airport staffing crisis in the rearview mirror and Philadelphia set to host an unprecedented lineup of marquee events this summer, Philadelphia International Airport is preparing for a blockbuster season.

In a press conference on Wednesday morning, airport officials said they expect 9.4 million passengers this summer – a 6.3% increase over 2025’s 8.8 million fliers.

Many are expected to visit a city touted by major media outlets as a top 2026 destination – both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal ranked Philadelphia No. 1 this year – largely because of the World Cup, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and the celebrations around America’s 250th birthday (July is expected to be the busiest month for PHL, with 3.2 million anticipated passengers).

“Summer 2026 is one of the most anticipated travel seasons in our history,” said the airport’s interim CEO, Tracy Borda, in a statement. Kate Sullivan, the airport’s chief commercial officer, told City & State that the summer is shaping up to be the facility’s busiest on record for international travel, while domestic volume is expected to match the record set in 2005, the airport’s all-time busiest summer.

Travelers will find an airport ready for its close-up. Sullivan said the facility has invested $500 million in a makeover, including upgraded lighting, seating and charging facilities. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia tourism experience will start in the terminals, where installations throughout the season will showcase the city’s 2026 festivities.

They include an exhibition of team jerseys tracing the history of the Philadelphia Union, and soccer and baseball pitch simulators during the FIFA World Cup and MLB All-Star Game. In addition, the Live Music at PHL program, a city initiative, will bring local artists to perform, “reminding the public that Philly is the original music city,” noted Borda.

Crucially, security screening wait times are back to normal after spring’s federal funding impasse, which led to legions of National Transportation Safety Administration security workers calling out sick – and, as a result, long lines for travelers waiting to be screened. This summer, Sullivan said travelers can find updated security wait times both on the airport’s website and on readouts in the ticketing areas.

A new carrier and myriad new routes are two more signs of Philadelphia’s growing economic and touristic clout. Allegiant Air started service from Philadelphia this month, while several existing carriers have rolled out domestic and international nonstop destinations – including several that had been discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These include a new American Airlines route to Prague; the airline is also offering the only U.S. nonstop service to Budapest. Both cities are popular river-cruise destinations, and the nonstops “also drive domestic connectivity as well,” explained Sullivan. American Airlines will also début seasonal service to Santiago, Dominican Republic, serving both vacationers and Southeastern Pennsylvania’s growing Dominican diaspora.

Sullivan said the recent closure of Spirit Airlines will have a relatively small impact in Philadelphia, where the low-cost carrier had been reducing its footprint over the past several years. Philadelphia’s third-largest carrier as recently as 2023, Spirit was scheduled to provide less than 2% of the seats in the Philadelphia market this summer – a decrease of more than 50% from May 2025.

Meanwhile, Spirit’s six Philadelphia destinations were already served by at least one other carrier – including JetBlue, which recently reentered the Philadelphia market for Fort Lauderdale and San Juan, and Southwest, which is adding domestic flights.

Sullivan told City & State that Philadelphia’s growing prominence in the air travel sector is not surprising. “We are the heart of the largest mega-region in the United States,” she said. “If you’re looking to be in the middle of everything, there’s no better place to be than in between New York and D.C.

“A big population, tons of anchor institutions, the growing life sciences sector, the corporate tenants … (are) really compelling for airlines when they think about a diverse set of demand,” she added. “There’s not just one thing that makes Philadelphia a great opportunity for airlines. It’s all of these things coming together.”