State College airport adding a nonstop flight to Columbus for Ohio State game
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- United Airlines announced a one-time nonstop flight from State College to Columbus.
- Flight departs Oct. 31 before Penn State–Ohio State game; return set for Nov. 2.
- This marks one of 24 special-event flights United added for major college football games.
Local Penn State football fans hoping to attend the Nov. 1 road game against Ohio State will soon have another option besides a five-hour car ride — a nonstop flight from State College Regional Airport.
United Airlines announced Thursday afternoon that it will add a one-time nonstop flight from State College to Columbus, Ohio, along with a return trip. According to a spokesperson, the flight will take off from Happy Valley at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31, and it will leave Columbus noon Sunday, Nov. 2.
No tentative prices were listed, although United Airlines said the flight would go on sale sometime Thursday evening. As of 6 p.m. Thursday, no such flights were yet available.
Such special-event flights haven’t been unusual at State College’s airport — and the Penn State-to-Columbus flight was just one of 24 similar flights announced by United Airlines and centered around big college football games. Ten of those flights involve at least one Big Ten town, starting off with a nonstop flight from Austin, Texas, to Columbus for the Longhorns-Buckeyes opener Aug. 30.
In the past, these one-time flights have happened for Penn State road trips such as the 2023 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, when a direct flight to Atlanta was scheduled. Other past games with added flights have included the 2021 matchups at Auburn and Iowa. (Last year, the same courtesy was also afforded to SMU fans looking for direct flights to State College for the College Football Playoff.)
Unsurprisingly, this year’s Ohio State game is again shaping up to be one of the biggest regular-season games of the year for the Nittany Lions. Both teams are coming off CFP berths from last season, and online sportsbooks rank both teams as among the four favorites to win the national title. (Texas and Georgia are the others.)
The cheapest ticket on the secondary market for the Penn State-Ohio State game currently stands at $222 on Ticketmaster. The kickoff time has not yet been announced.
