A $35 million terminal expansion and checkpoint upgrade was unveiled this week at Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE).
The new 40,000 square foot terminal and four-lane security checkpoint upgrades include new equipment provided by the TSA, new vertical circulation equipment with redundancy to enhance ADA compliance, a state-of-the-art air purification system and improved air circulation, and a separation of outbound and inbound passenger flow.
“This $35 million infrastructure investment alleviates a number of operational challenges, but also elevates the customer experiences for all of our passengers,” said Thomas Stoudt, executive director of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, which operates ABE. “An extra TSA screening lane will increase our throughput from the 400 passengers per hour from our existing checkpoint processing to 700 passengers per hour. It was critical infrastructure that was needed to not only continue to serve our current demand, but to serve our growing region.”
The TSA upgrades add a fourth security screening lane incorporate the latest screening equipment, enabling the airport to boost the passenger processing capacity from 300-per-hour up to 740-passengers-per-hour.
The modernized terminal complex also enhances ADA compliance through the replacement of unreliable escalators and elevators, reducing the number of vertical transitions and simplifying the passenger experience at ABE.
