The first full year of amazon.com cargo traffic coursing through Lehigh Valley International Airport helped make for a strong 2016, the facility's owner/operator announced.
Cargo traffic increased 165.7 percent compared to 2015, with nearly 126 million pounds of deliveries aboard flights at LVIA, up from 47.4 million.
Passenger traffic increased, as well, reaching its highest level since 2013, according to the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority.
For the year in 2016, 688,505 passengers chose LVIA, up 2.2 percent from 673,505 in 2015, the authority announced.
"We are extremely grateful to every passenger and the Lehigh Valley community for choosing LVIA when scheduling their vacations, business trips and travel needs," Charles Everett, executive director of the airport authority, said in a statement. "The increase indicates that our mission of delivering a memorable customer experience is working and those standards must be maintained."
Everett gives credit for the increase, in part, to Allegiant Air flying larger aircraft that can seat more passengers in and out of the airport in Hanover Township, Lehigh County.
"They added some seats to some of their Florida destinations like Orlando-Sanford, St. Petersburg, Punta Gorda," he said. "And as you know they're starting service to Fort Lauderdale in February of this year."
Ensuring passengers enjoy their time at LVIA is a focus of the airport authority and airport staff, Everett stressed. He pointed to customer-appreciation efforts such as free snacks on certain days, like candy at Halloween.
"Small things, but it conveys a message to the passengers that we care," he said.
Trained six months earlier in CPR and use of an AED, the employees saved the life of a traveler whose heart stopped.
Lehigh Valley International has embarked on a $5 million makeover of rental car, bus and related ground transportation facilities, scheduled to open this year. The goal is to increase customer convenience, including by bringing the rental lots closer to the rental companies' counters. The demolition that wrapped up earlier this month of a 1965 firehouse provides a clear view from the car concessions to the lot, as well.
Looking ahead, the authority committed in November to a $57 million five-year capital investment at LVIA, including a runway rehabilitation scheduled to begin with the design phase this year, new hangars for general aviation pilots who rent space at the airport and expanded parking for cargo aircraft.
Cargo has become big business at LVIA, evidenced by the 2016 traffic.
Since September 2015, three cargo companies have been flying delivery routes for the retail giant amazon.com out of LVIA: ABX Air, Air Transportation International and Atlas Air Inc., Everett said. That's in addition to FedEx, which is building a ground transportation hub on land purchased from the airport authority in Allen Township.
"Increased cargo operations created jobs and provided an important revenue stream for the airport authority to regain financial sustainability," Everett stated.
Amazon.com operates fulfillment centers spanning 1.1 million square feet at the Chrin Commerce Center in Palmer Township and two, at 615,000 and 483,200 square feet, on Boulder Drive in Upper Macungie Township.
On the passenger side, LVIA partners with Allegiant Air, American, Delta and United to offer 11 nonstop destinations to both leisure destinations and major airline hubs with global connections. The nonstop destinations include Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Myrtle Beach (seasonal), Newark, Orlando, Punta Gorda and Tampa Bay.
Read more here: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com
No comments:
Post a Comment