"As big airports hit size limits, LVIA has a chance to fly high"

Thursday, August 23, 2007

As big airports hit size limits, LVIA has a chance to fly high
Unlike metropolitan sites, study says, Valley's own has less frenzy, space
to grow.
By Spencer Soper and Kurt Blumenau
The Allentown (PA) Morning Call 


Coopersburg resident Deb Baringer enjoys the ease of flying at Lehigh Valley
International Airport, where travelers breeze through security checkpoints
and you can actually see the terminal from your parking spot.

''It's really very convenient,'' she said Wednesday, waiting for a plane to
Florida with her husband and two grandchildren. ''There's not long lines. We
live close by, so someone drops us off.''

Crowds at big-city airports, where lines snake endlessly and getting from
the parking lot to the plane is an exhausting journey, could soon pay big
dividends for LVIA, according to a study of air travel in the region.

La Guardia, Kennedy and Newark airports are expected to be near capacity by
2010, presenting big growth opportunities over the next two decades for
smaller airports on the fringes. Those big airports handled the vast
majority of air travelers from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and eastern
Pennsylvania, according to the study, which didn't look at Philadelphia
Airport.

The number of passengers boarding planes each year at LVIA could quadruple
from 417,301 in 2005 to nearly 1.7 million in 2025, the study predicts. It
forecasts a reversal in the downswing of traffic at the airport, where
passenger volume fell 5 percent in 2006 to its lowest level in more than 10
years.

Airport officials have tried to lure new carriers, particularly major
low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines, to no avail.

Despite the hassles of big-city airports, they remain popular with travelers
due to their robust flight schedules and lower fares compared with regional
airports. For instance, in 2005, more than 750,000 passengers boarded planes
at Newark Airport, even though they live closer to LVIA, according to the
study. The Lehigh Valley airport offers about 38 daily nonstop flights to 12
destinations, a limited choice compared with larger airports.

The three metropolitan airports will have a capacity deficit of up to 30
million passengers by 2025, which will present opportunities for smaller
airports to expand their share of the market, said Charles Van Cook, a
consultant with PB Aviation of New York, which conducted the study.

But LVIA has to do more than just sit back and let its big neighbors get
more crowded. Key to its growth will be luring a major low-cost carrier and
more than doubling the number of daily flights offered from the airport over
the next two decades, according to the study. Ensuring passengers can easily
travel to the airport is also a key factor, which LVIA officials said makes
widening Route 22 a priority.

''If the study is accurate, we need to deal with 22 or we're not going to be
able to get people to the airport,'' said LVIA's director, George Doughty.

Without more airlines offering more direct flights, annual passenger
boardings at LVIA would grow to only 542,000 by 2025, less than a third of
the more optimistic projection, according to the study.

Of six regional airports that can serve as alternates to Newark, La Guardia
and Kennedy, Lehigh Valley is in a good position to grow, Van Cook said.
Expanding airports in Westchester County, N.Y., and Trenton, N.J., would be
politically thorny, he said. And the draw of a regional airport in Islip,
N.Y., on Long Island is limited by geography, he said.

''If a community is welcoming for airport capacity, the potential is
there,'' Van Cook said.

Lehigh Valley is one of the few airports on the East Coast with room to
grow. In recent years it has purchased adjacent land to create a buffer
against potential development and to prepare to add a third runway.

Airport officials said capitalizing on the growth potential will also
require planning improvements to the terminal and building a parking garage
so prospective airlines see that the airport can accommodate more traffic.

''We really need to move on the planning now,'' said Larry Krauter, deputy
airport director.

Also, the airport and other Lehigh Valley leaders have to promote the
economic benefits of enhanced air service in the region to limit political
opposition to growth, airport officials said.

Joe McDermott, a spokesman for the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.,
said the organization supports enhancing service at the airport.

''A strong and healthy airport is vital for business expansion, because you
have to be able to get people in and out,'' he said.

But some travelers aren't eager to see their quiet little airport get
busier.

Cheri Morrison, of Springtown, was waiting Wednesday at LVIA for a flight to
Florida. She'd still use the airport if it got more crowded, but she'd be
disappointed.

''You feel like you have your own personal airport here,'' she said.

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