What is Lehigh Valley International Airport mean? Lehigh Valley International Airport (IATA: ABE, ICAO: KABE, FAA LID: ABE) (formerly Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton International Airport) is a domestic airport in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. Parts are in Catasauqua and Allen Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. It is 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Allentown, and two miles (3.2 km) northwest of Bethlehem, in the Lehigh Valley area. It is the fourth busiest airport in the state, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2019–2023, in which it is categorized as a non-hub primary commercial service facility. In previous years the FAA categorized the airport as a "small hub."
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 which is constructing a new base at the airport), and multiple new routes being added for popular destinations and major hubs across the country. In 2016 it had 688,505 passengers, an increase of 2.2% from 2015, and In 2018 it had 792,974 passengers. Passenger traffic has experienced 26 consecutive months of steady growth as of November 2019, and the total passenger count for January through November 2019 has already eclipsed 2018's passenger totals for that entire year. Much of this growth has been driven by Allegiant Airlines' new base, providing low-cost flights to multiple leisure destinations.
It 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. As of 2016, it ships more than 126 million pounds of cargo annually with growth of nearly 166% in cargo tonnage shipped between 2015 and 2016. Companies such as Amazon.com are using the airport, a major factor in its growth.
The airport is about 75 miles (121 km) from Philadelphia International Airport, 80 miles (130 km) from Newark Liberty International Airport, and 55 miles (89 km) from Trenton-Mercer Airport.
The airport is a popular diversion airport for flights to the New York metropolitan area.
One of the shortest scheduled jet flights in the contiguous US operated between ABE and PHL. Piedmont Airlines (American Eagle) regularly operated an ERJ-145 on the 55-mile route. The average time in the air was 20 minutes. It was the shortest flight in mainland America until 2017, when it was surpassed by Skywest (United Express) SFO to STS route in 2017, as that route has an average time in the air of 16 minutes. The ABE-PHL flights ended in 2020.
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