Two milestones were reached Thursday morning at Lehigh Valley International Airport.
The first was the inaugural nonstop flight from LVIA to Fort Myers, Florida, by Allegiant. There was a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Gate 14 before the 130 passengers boarded for their journey to the warmer climate.
However, this is also the 20th anniversary of Allegiant’s first flight from the Lehigh Valley, and the start of a continuing upward trajectory.
LVIA had a record-breaking number of passengers this summer, with almost 300,000 people using the airport between June and August. In 2024, it surpassed 1 million passengers for the first time since 2004.
Tom Stoudt, executive director of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, which operates the airport in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, said the increased traffic is a reason Allegiant has been adding destinations over the years.
He said about 60% of passengers at LVIA fly out on Allegiant, which goes to 11 of the airport’s 15 nonstop destinations.
“On Dec. 16, 2005, they started service to Sanford [near Orlando, Florida], twice a week, and here we are now with 11 nonstop destinations, eight of them providing a lot of connectivity for this region to all sorts of leisure and vacation destinations,” Stoudt said. “It’s been incredible, and you see how much traffic continues to move through here at ABE.
“That’s certainly thanks to all of our airline partners, but Allegiant continues to provide that connectivity, and people are always excited about point-to-point nonstop service and getting people to their vacation home, leisure destinations,” he said.
The other three airlines that serve LVIA — “legacy” carriers American, Delta and United — are known for using the “hub and spoke” system, according to Stoudt: They fly to hub airports such as Atlanta, Chicago or Charlotte, and passengers connect at those places to their final destinations.
On the other hand, Allegiant goes directly to nine Florida cities as well as Denver and Nashville, Tennessee.
Andrew Porrello, corporate communications manager for Las Vegas-based Allegiant, said the Lehigh Valley has embraced the airline’s “unique brand of service” and the airport is a trusted partner because it continually advocates for affordable air travel and new routes.
He added that the strong demand from LVIA led the company to establish it as a crew and aircraft base in 2020.
“Allegiant is proud to be a low-cost carrier focused entirely on leisure travel,” Porrello said. “Our model connects small- to medium-sized cities with premier vacation destinations, and we exclusively operate nonstop flights, something that sets us apart from other airlines.
“When travelers in the region choose Allegiant from ABE, they enjoy the convenience of a smaller airport and a nonstop flight straight to their destination,” he said. “This ease of travel, combined with our low fares, allows customers to take more trips to their favorite vacation spots. In fact, strong demand from the Lehigh Valley to Central Florida has led us to add routes to Melbourne and Orlando International in recent years,” he said.
Stoudt said LVIA isn’t in talks with Allegiant about additional destinations, but is ready to make its case.
“We know that there’s a lot of data that we can pull about where people are traveling to and from from our region, and we always share that,” Stoudt said. “We’re happy to meet with the airlines several times a year. Allegiant is certainly one of the carriers we talk to continuously about opportunities for service, different ideas about destinations.”
Ultimately, he said, it’s an airline decision.
Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.