Lehigh Valley International Airport

Introduction of Lehigh Valley International Airport

Lehigh Valley International Airport (IATA code: ABE, ICAO code: KABE), formerly known as Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton International Airport, is a domestic airport in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the fourth busiest airport in Pennsylvania behind only Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg and the only public airport located in the Lehigh Valley.

Covering 2,278 acres (922 hectares), the airport has nine gates to service the passengers and six holding spots for cargo aircraft. It is about 75 miles (121 kilometers) from Philadelphia International Airport, 80 miles (130 kilometers) from Newark Liberty International Airport, and 55 miles (89 kilometers) from Trenton-Mercer Airport.

After several years of falling passenger counts in the early 2000s, the airport has lately experienced a significant rebound in passenger totals due to being an alternative to the congested airports in Philadelphia and Newark, airport facility improvements, a rapidly growing regional population, carrier expansions (especially Allegiant Air), and multiple new routes being added for popular destinations and major hubs across the country. The airport ended up with 911,970 passengers for 2019, which is an increase of 15.01% from the previous year.

The airport is becoming popular for the transportation of air cargo due to growth of e-commerce and close proximity to major population centers on the East Coast. In a year ending March 2020, it shipped about 192 million pounds of cargo. Companies such as Amazon.com are using the airport, a major factor in its growth.