LVIA or ABE airport (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: to buy, university, beach)

[JohnZ963]

I doubt Allegiant would pull out of ABE in favor of TTN. TTN is at least a 1.5 hour drive from the Lehigh Valley. People from here aren't going to drive that far.

I fly the United ABE-ORD round trip often and it is usually around $900. The flights are pretty much always full. Too bad AA pulled out of this route a few years ago.

I am also on the ABE-PHL American/Piedmont Dash 8 flight a lot. Was nice when they had Air Wisconsin flying the CRJ on that route (first PHL flight out of ABE in the morning, last ABE arrival at night), but it ended not long ago. I've flown on a Piedmont ERJ-145 flight elsewhere but I doubt they will put it on this route unless they eliminate the Dash 8 entirely. Those Dash 8's are ancient and beat to heck on the inside, even the plastic is all yellowed.

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by JohnZ963

I doubt Allegiant would pull out of ABE in favor of TTN. TTN is at least a 1.5 hour drive from the Lehigh Valley. People from here aren't going to drive that far.

I'm afraid they may just try to get new customers. To be specific, since they get half their customers from Lehigh Valley going to Orlando Sanford, and Frontier's largest destination from Trenton Orlando McCoy, I am afraid that Allegiant will pull all flights from ABE except Sanford.

Originally Posted by JohnZ963

I fly the United ABE-ORD round trip often and it is usually around $900. The flights are pretty much always full. Too bad AA pulled out of this route a few years ago.

A hundred or fewer daily passengers going each way isn't worth competing over.

Originally Posted by JohnZ963

I am also on the ABE-PHL American/Piedmont Dash 8 flight a lot. Was nice when they had Air Wisconsin flying the CRJ on that route (first PHL flight out of ABE in the morning, last ABE arrival at night), but it ended not long ago. I've flown on a Piedmont ERJ-145 flight elsewhere but I doubt they will put it on this route unless they eliminate the Dash 8 entirely. Those Dash 8's are ancient and beat to heck on the inside, even the plastic is all yellowed.

Piedmont Fleet Matrix
26 De Havilland Canada DHC-8-100 average age 26.3 years
11 De Havilland Canada DHC-8-300 average age 24.9 years
9 Embraer ERJ-145 average age 17.1 years

The first De Havilland Canada DHC-8-101 Dash 8 delivered to Piedmont (now retired) First Flight 08. Feb 1985 and was one of the first ones built.

I see no new planes coming to Piedmont. They have to give up the ghost eventually, and I don't know if they will replace the Philadelphia connection.

[PacoMartin]

There has been only one development at ABE in the last year, allegiant now flies to Fort Lauderdale

Top 10 Destination Airports

1. Atlanta, GA: ATL
2. Sanford, FL: SFB
3. Charlotte, NC: CLT
4. Detroit, MI: DTW
5. Chicago, IL: ORD
6. Philadelphia, PA: PHL
7. Punta Gorda, FL: PGD
8. St. Petersburg, FL: PIE
9. Myrtle Beach, SC: MYR
10. Fort Lauderdale, FL: FLL

Operations are dominated by Allegiant and Regional Carriers
Allegiant 36.75%
ExpressJet 18.30%
PSA 14.36%
Delta 9.22%
SkyWest 7.10%

But this fall Transbridge is going to relocate their bus terminal to ABE airport grounds.

The other big news is that Boeing has started delivering it's B737-max8 single aisle jets with an increased range that permits budget Transatlantic flights with 189 seats. It's an unpleasant way to travel, but it is inexpensive.

Using these new jets Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) has begun operations from Stewart International Airport (roughly 2 hours by shuttle bus from NYC Port Authority) to Belfast in Northern Ireland, Dublin & Shannon in Ireland, Edinburgh in Scotland, and seasonal trips to Bergen Norway. The first international flight departed for Edinburgh on June 15, 2017.

NAS has received 6 of 110 of these planes. In addition to Stewart they have also begun operations to Hartford CT, and Providence Rhode Island. As they receive new planes they will need places to fly to.

Transbridge currently has 32 buses on weekdays from NEW YORK PABT to TRANS BRIDGE TERMINAL next to the airport.

Stewart Airport to Dublin is 3,155 miles. To fly from ABE adds 91 miles to the trip.
Stewart Airport to Port Authority Bus terminal is 69.4 miles.
ABE Airport to Port Authority Bus terminal is 90.6 miles but it will have much better bus service starting this fall. Slightly faster highways means transit time is similar.

So what do you think about the possibility that NAS could begin flying from ABE?

[toobusytoday]

I would love to have another low cost international carrier come into ABE. We only fly out of EWR or PHL. I mean I always look to see if it will work out of ABE, but it's generally too cost prohibitive. My son, however, got a sweet deal for a Thanksgiving flight from the West coast at lower cost than either EWR or PHL. I've flown out of NYC airports (JFK and LaGuardia) and would not do it again unless it was hundreds of dollars cheaper.

[flyonpa]

A Norwegian Air Shuttle in/out of ABE would have to fly in from a pre-clearance city. I Don't see CBP running a operation at ABE for one flight a day.

[rowhomecity]

The reason ABE is smaller than say HIA. Is that the Lehigh Valley is so close to Philadelphia and NYC that in terms of airports it is not as economically viable, from all the competition.

This proximity is definitely one of the region's greatest assets, but in terms of air travel it does little to aid.

The biggest boom the region should be investing in: Train travel between NYC and Philadelphia. Now this would set a new stage for the Lehigh Valley, it perhaps could be one of the greatest economic booms in Pennsylvania, if investments were made.

The region should also invest in light rail transit. I think there is future potential to make ABE a major hub, but the region really needs to grow from a corporate stand point (so much air travel is business related), and that means investing in intercity rail transit.

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by flyonpa

A Norwegian Air Shuttle in/out of ABE would have to fly in from a pre-clearance city. I Don't see CBP running a operation at ABE for one flight a day.

Both Dublin Airport and Shannon Airport have preclearance facilities.
However, NAS usually sets up an operation for more than one destination.

There was no CBP operation at Stewart at all before NAS began flying there. Hartford had a CBP facility for only seasonal flights to Cancun before NAS began operating there. PVD (Providence RI)had a CBP facility for seasonal flights to Cancun and the Portuguese Azores before NAS began operating there. So I don't think it is impossible to get a CBP facility at ABE.

Norwegian Air Shuttle
Stewart NY :Belfast–International, Bergen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Shannon
Providence RI: Cork, Dublin, Edinburgh, Shannon Seasonal: Fort-de-France, Pointe-à-Pitre Belfast–International, Bergen
Hartford CT :Edinburgh.

So NAS could begin operations from ABE to Shannon and Dublin. Once CBP sets up a facility they could expand to Cork, Belfast, Edinburgh, and Bergen Norway. These flights could be cheaper than the Aer Lingus and United flights from Newark which fly to Dublin, Shannon, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.

The bus from NYC Port Authority Bus terminal to Stewart airport takes 90 minutes and there are only two daily, and another two trips that are less than daily.

The bus from NYC Port Authority Bus terminal to ABE airport takes 95-120 minutes depending on time of day and there are multiple daily buses.

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

I would love to have another low cost international carrier come into ABE. We only fly out of EWR or PHL.

What has changed is the delivery of a new class of single aisle jets that can economically fly Transatlantic. The ones being delivered this fall have an additional 580 nautical mile range than their predecessors. However, range is still limited until Airbus begins delivery of their long range narrowbody in 2019 which will fly another 485 nautical miles. So destinations in the United Kingdom and Ireland (and as far away as Bergen Norway) must be the first options.

A NAS flight is not at all comfortable as they have 14 more seats than Southwest airline has on the same plane. But flights are very cheap following the rules of all ULCC (i.e. they charge for every conceivable option). In two years the newer single aisle jets will have an additional 485 nautical miles of range bringing more Nordic, German, Benelux, French, and even Spanish and Portuguese options available.

NAS is trying to use the smaller planes to connect non-congested USA airports to non-congested European airports.

It's a similar business plan to Allegiant Air which values ABE as a good airport to route flights to small Florida airports. The movement of Trans Bridge Lines bus terminal to ABE airport simply makes it more attractive to the budget flyer who lives in or is visiting NJ or NYC.

[PacoMartin]

http://www.gcmap.com/map?P=LIS%0d%0a...e&RC=%23ff0000

There are three red lines drawn on the map on the above link. The first one is range of single aisle jets since 1998. The second one is range of as of fall 2017. The third line is the expected range in 2019. SWF, BDL, and PVD are also shown where Norwegian Air Shuttle has begun narrow body transatlantic operations.


The problem is that these are "still air" ranges which means you can easily fly that distance eastbound to Europe. But on the return trip you are flying against headwinds, so you would probably have to stop at Newfoundland Canada to refuel. Headwinds get particularly strong in January and they vary from year to year. In a particularly bad year many planes must make unplanned stops.

But while it is not dangerous, it wrecks havoc with schedules and there is a high price to be paid business wise. So even though since 1989 it was possible to fly to Dublin from ABE in a single aisle jet, nobody would do it because you would have to schedule a fuel stop on the return.

Each airline studies the patterns of headwinds and makes an educated guess as to the impact on their business of having to make unplanned fuel stops in bad years. They then decide on what is a reasonable business risk. Up until this year, you could basically only fly to Iceland from ABE.

[PacoMartin]

The founder of JetBlue is starting a new airline. His initial fleet is going to be 60 Bombardier CS300 with a 2 by 3 seating per row. The planes so far have been filled with 127 and 145 total seats by airlines in Europe.

His intention is to fly both domestic and international routes within the range of the plane (3,300 nautical miles). He is targeting small airports as alternatives near large urban areas. Presumably Providence RI and Bradley CT would be his first goal, as they were the first choice for Norwegian last year, but it is possible he could work his way down to ABE.

Some European airports are within the range of the jet from ABE to Ireland, Scotland, England, Portugal

From ABE
Allentown, PA—NJ 664,651
2,737 nm SNN Shannon (Limerick) [Intl], County Clare, Munster, IE
2,820 nm DUB Dublin [Intl], County Dublin, Leinster, IE
2,883 nm EDI Edinburgh [Edinburgh Airport (RAF Turnhouse)], Midlothian, SCT, GB
2,996 nm LIS Lisbon (Lisboa) [Aeroporto da Portela de Sacavem], 11, PT
3,074 nm STN London [Stansted Airport], Essex, ENG, GB

These ranges from ABE are between 6.26% and 7.17% further than those from Providence Rhode Island, but maybe they hope they can drag in some wealthy customers from NJ especially now that TransBridge bus lines give good bus connections to the airport

Shannon (Limerick) [Intl], County Clare, Munster, IE nautical miles to (busiest medium and small airport in Northeast)

1. 2,912 nm PIT Pittsburgh [Intl], PA, US
2. 2,591 nm BDL Hartford/Springfield (Windsor Locks) [Bradley Intl], CT, US
3. 2,768 nm BUF Buffalo [Buffalo Niagara Intl], NY, US
4. 2,554 nm PVD Providence [Theodore Francis Green State Airport], RI, US
5. 2,925 nm RIC Richmond [Intl], VA, US
6. 2,909 nm ORF Norfolk [Intl], VA, US
7. 2,601 nm ALB Albany [Intl], NY, US
8. 2,724 nm ROC Rochester [Greater Rochester Intl], NY, US
9. 2,511 nm MHT Manchester, NH, US
10. 2,670 nm SYR Syracuse [Syracuse Hancock Intl], NY, US
11. 2,446 nm PWM Portland [Intl Jetport], ME, US
12. 2,659 nm HPN White Plains [Westchester County Airport], NY, US
13. 2,648 nm ISP Islip (New York, Ronkonkoma) [Long Island MacArthur Airport], NY, US
14. 2,518 nm BTV Burlington [Intl], VT, US
15. 2,801 nm MDT Harrisburg [Intl], PA, US
16. 2,751 nm ACY Atlantic City [Intl], NJ, US
17. 2,737 nm ABE Allentown [Lehigh Valley Intl], PA, US

[PacoMartin]

Quick review of regional airlines/ small jets at ABE airport
Daily Airline seats model destination regional airlines
Three DL 50 Canadair RJ-200ER DTW SkyWest Airlines Inc.
One-Two DL 76 Canadair CRJ 900 ATL Endeavor Air Inc.
One DL 110 Boeing 717-200 ATL Delta Air Lines Inc.
Three AA 76 Canadair CRJ 900 CLT PSA Airlines Inc.
Twice AA 50 Embraer-145 PHL Piedmont Airlines
Twice UA 50 Canadair RJ-200ER ORD Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp



With United Airlines having only two 50 seat jets going to Chicago daily, it is difficult to see how much of a market American Airlines can share. If AA has more than one daily flight, it is possible that United Airlines will leave ABE entirely (except for the bus to Newark Airport) and turn it over to just Delta and American Airlines.