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Airport News

Building Bridges for the Future

October 12th, 2022 |

Senator Lisa Boscola secures $850,000 of funding for Airport project

(Hanover Township, PA) – Infrastructure improvements at Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) received significant funding support from PA Senator Lisa Boscola (18th District) as part of the 2022-23 state budget, with $850,000 secured to upgrade and rehabilitate (8) existing Passenger Boarding Bridges (PBB).

“There’s definitely operational stress on these necessary pieces of equipment, with the majority of the bridges over 25 years old,” said Thomas R. Stoudt, Executive Director of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority (LNAA).  “We are extremely grateful for the hard work of Senator Boscola to help the Airport continue to maintain its primary role of being an economic asset for the region,” said Stoudt.

Among the several critical enhancements is converting the existing solid state PBB controls to industry standard Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC’s) which will improve reliability and service capabilities while ensuring safe and efficient bridge operation during aircraft docking.

“Lehigh Valley International Airport is a vital economic engine and asset with an impact that stretches well beyond our region – producing over $547 million of direct and in-direct revenue annually and being responsible for more than 5,000 area jobs,” Senator Boscola stated.

“This state investment will aid in making ABE an even more attractive airport for travelers and increase its economic impact on our region and Commonwealth.”

The project scope also includes:

  • Acquisition of PBB management software that provides real-time monitoring and diagnostic information on the status, performance, and potential issues with equipment.
  • Reduction of on-airport emissions through replacement of electric Ground Power Units (GPU) and Pre-conditioned Air Units (PCAir) that provide electrical power and conditioned air to aircraft when using the PBB.

ABE just experienced one of the busiest summer travel seasons in recent history.  From June – August, 282,852 passengers used ABE – compared to the 267,508 travelers at the Airport in the summer of 2021.

“Extremely busy, that’s the best way to describe the last three months at your neighborhood airport.  Indications of strong airline bookings and predictions by industry experts for heavy volumes of travelers taking to the skies certainly came to fruition,” said Stoudt.

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