Philadelphia International Airport will be ready in three years when the area hosts America’s semi-quincentennial, the MLB All-Star Game, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, said PHL CEO Atif Saeed.

About 450,000 PHL visitors to Philadelphia and the region are expected. Many will be flying in and out of the airport, writes Emma Dooling for Philadelphia Business Journal.

That means bringing back routes that stopped flying during the pandemic when demand dropped off.

It also means an improved customer experience.

“We are going to be the front door to the world coming to our community, and we need to make sure that we’re representing our community the best way possible,” Saeed said.

The airport handled 25.2 million passengers in 2022, about 24 percent below the 33 million it was processing pre-pandemic.

Those numbers have since been climbing, with the airport down about 13 percent in January over 2019 passenger numbers.

The airport expects to have full passenger recovery by 2026.

“So being 24 percent below where we were previously obviously is not a great storyline, but the fact that we are progressing so quickly is good news for the community at large,” he said.

Read more about PHL visitors descending on the airport in 2026 in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Find out more about Philadelphia being selected as a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.