Allentown Airport opened in 1929 and is one of the very few in the nation that still serves its community from its original location. Scheduled airline service began on September 16th, 1935 by United Airlines with Boeing 247 service. At the time, the airport hangar served as the passenger terminal. The first terminal building at the airport was built in 1938 as a Works Projects Administration (WPA) project.

During World War II the U. S. Navy V-5 flight training program was conducted at the airport in conjunction with ground training held at Muhlenberg College. In addition, Headquarters of Group 312 of the Civil Air Patrol was at Allentown-Bethlehem Airport. One of its activities was to provide a courier service for cargo defense plants. Allentown CAP pilots also patrolled the Atlantic coastline, and was active in recruiting young men for the air cadet program of the Army Air Force.

By January 1944, work on a new runway was completed and a Class A United States Weather Bureau station had been installed. About 1,000 Naval Aviation Cadets had been trained during 1943, and a large increase in the amount of civilian and military air traffic had occurred. In late July, the War Production Board approved the construction of a second story addition to the administration building. The building housed the Lehigh Aircraft Company, the weather bureau station, the Civil Aeronautic communications station, and the office and waiting room of United Air Lines. In August, the V-5 flight training program ended when the Navy decided to move all flight training to naval air bases under Navy pilots.

In the immediate postwar years, in April 1946, the Lehigh Airport Authority was created to own and manage the airport. This made the airport a public enterprise. 1948 saw the beginning of construction for a new passenger terminal, being finished in 1950. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton (ABE) airport, as it was now called, also expanded passenger service by offering flights with United, Trans World Airlines (TWA), and Colonial airlines. DC-4 and DC-6 service was offered with the addition of 5,000 ft of runway.

Throughout the 1950s, both passenger service as well as air cargo service expanded at ABE. Eastern and Allegheny Airlines began service. In 1960, both Vice-President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy made campaign stops at ABE. Construction began in late 1972 for the new terminal, which was opened on December 14th, 1975.

Today Lehigh Valley International Airport continues to serve the Lehigh Valley.

Lehigh Valley Airport

The Lehigh Valley, also known as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area, is an official metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and Warren county on the western edge of New Jersey, in the United States.

The Valley is named for the Lehigh River, which runs through it.

The Lehigh Valley's principal cities are Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, comprising the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metropolitan area. The traditional bounds of the region are The Poconos to the north, the Delaware River to the east, the boundaries of Berks County and Montgomery County to the southwest, and the boundary with Bucks County to the south. More recently, however, the area around Phillipsburg, New Jersey west of Pohatcong Mountain, parts of upper Bucks County around Quakertown, and portions of northeastern Berks County and southwestern Carbon County in Pennsylvania are considered outer parts of the Valley.

The Lehigh Valley is located approximately 50 miles (96 km) north of Philadelphia, the country's sixth largest city, and 70 miles (144 km) west of New York City, the country's largest city. The Valley is home to some 790,000 people. Recent census studies show it to be the fastest growing region of the state, due mostly to its growing popularity as a bedroom community for the highly-populated neighboring regions of Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York City.

The Lehigh Valley is geologically and geographically part of the Great Appalachian Valley, a region largely made up of limestone that stretches along the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains. As such, the Valley suffers from a great number of sinkholes, which have caused millions of dollars of property damage annually. The Lehigh Valley is so named because it comprises an actual valley that lies between two mountain ranges, Blue Mountain to the north and South Mountain to the south.

Climate

The Lehigh Valley has four distinct seasons, which typically include humid summers, cold winters, and very short and mild springs and falls.

Industry

The Lehigh Valley is known historically for its production of steel, Portland cement and apparel. It has historically served as a major U.S. center of industrial manufacturing, though this role has diminished at least slightly in the 21st century as companies have shifted to Asia and other lower wage, off-shore locations for industrial mining and manufacturing.

The Lehigh Valley boasts the honor of being the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution, which began in the borough of Catasauqua with the development of anthracite iron.

Lehigh Valley International Airport (IATA: ABE, ICAO: KABE, FAA LID: ABE), formerly Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton International Airport, is a public airport in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.

The airport is located three miles (5 km) northeast of Allentown, in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, the third most populated metropolitan region in the state (after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh).

It is owned and operated by the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority. The airport is served primarily by regional airlines, operating feederliner aircraft. 788,511 people used the airport in 2006.[1]

In recent years, Lehigh Valley International Airport has encountered stiff competition from nearby airports such as Philadelphia International Airport (60 miles away) and Newark Liberty International Airport (90 miles away). These airports often offer a greater selection of flights and sometimes lower fares. This was exacerbated by the completion of the Pennsylvania extension of Interstate 78 in 1990, which allowed for a faster drive to Newark; and the opening of Interstate 476 in 1991 that made it easier to connect to Interstate 95 near Philadelphia.

Allentown Airport opened in 1929 and is one of the very few in the nation that still serves its community from its original location. Scheduled airline service began on September 16th, 1935 by United Airlines with Boeing 247 service. At the time, the airport hangar served as the passenger terminal. The first terminal building at the airport was built in 1938 as a Works Projects Administration (WPA) project.

During World War II the U. S. Navy V-5 flight training program was conducted at the airport in conjunction with ground training held at Muhlenberg College. In addition, Headquarters of Group 312 of the Civil Air Patrol was at Allentown-Bethlehem Airport. One of its activities was to provide a courier service for cargo defense plants. Allentown CAP pilots also patrolled the Atlantic coastline, and was active in recruiting young men for the air cadet program of the Army Air Force.

By January 1944, work on a new runway was completed and a Class A United States Weather Bureau station had been installed. About 1,000 Naval Aviation Cadets had been trained during 1943, and a large increase in the amount of civilian and military air traffic had occurred. In late July, the War Production Board approved the construction of a second story addition to the administration building. The building housed the Lehigh Aircraft Company, the weather bureau station, the Civil Aeronautic communications station, and the office and waiting room of United Air Lines. In August, the V-5 flight training program ended when the Navy decided to move all flight training to naval air bases under Navy pilots.

In the immediate postwar years, in April 1946, the Lehigh Airport Authority was created to own and manage the airport. This made the airport a public enterprise. 1948 saw the beginning of construction for a new passenger terminal, being finished in 1950. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton (ABE) airport, as it was now called, also expanded passenger service by offering flights with United, Trans World Airlines (TWA), and Colonial airlines. DC-4 and DC-6 service was offered with the addition of 5,000 ft of runway.

Throughout the 1950s, both passenger service as well as air cargo service expanded at ABE. Eastern and Allegheny Airlines began service. In 1960, both Vice-President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy made campaign stops at ABE. Construction began in late 1972 for the new terminal, which was opened on December 14th, 1975.

Today Lehigh Valley International Airport continues to serve the Lehigh Valley.