For Pittsburgh travelers wanting to head to the West Coast, you'll have another option at your disposal at Pittsburgh International Airport. 

United Airlines announced this week that it will be offering year-round, non-stop flights from Pittsburgh to LAX. 

"The real competitive advantage that the Pittsburgh region has in a lot of the cases when we're pitching companies is that we sit very much at the intersection of AI, robotics, energy, manufacturing, and life sciences," said Chief Growth Officer at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development Matt Smith. "A lot of the investment that we're seeing now is directly tied to innovation occurring in sectors that might not typically be the 'tech' sector."

Smith, who is also the Vice Chair of the Allegheny County Airport Authority Board, reiterated that the growing demand from Pittsburgh's tech community was a significant factor in the decision to offer the flights. 

"Innovation really undergirds all of those other sectors, so when we're able to enhance the connectivity that this region has to really key markets like Southern California, it proves the value proposition for us in terms of our ability to attract that external business investment," he said.

Along with Pittsburgh's work in the tech sector, its growing footprint in the TV and film market was part of the decision to begin more non-stop service to Los Angeles. 

"Southwestern Pennsylvania has been home to over 250 film and television productions," Dawn Keezer, Pittsburgh Film Office Executive Director, said. "People choose Southwestern Pennsylvania to film almost every single day because of our large crew base, our diversity of locations, and our cost-effective ability to do business here."

American Airlines started daily, direct service to LAX last year, and Breeze Airways offers flights up to five times a week. 

The nonstop United flights begin on March 29, and travelers can begin making reservations now.