HANOVER TWP., LEHIGH COUNTY, Pa. — When Lehigh Valley International Airport held an event Thursday to commemorate the start of a new nonstop flight destination, Lehigh County Executive Phillips J. Armstrong showed up in a cowboy hat.
A giant inflatable sign saying "DENVER" told the flight's designation, and Armstrong noted his son lives in Colorado.
- Nonstop flights are now in operation between the Lehigh Valley (ABE airport) and Denver, Colorado
- The first one took off on Thursday, with a lot of fanfare from the airport
- Tickets are being advertised as starting at $59, but passengers say they actually end up costing much more than that
"This is an important connection, believe me," Armstrong said. "I'm sorry, I didn't know things were going out in the little goodie bags, I would have had a free drink at one of his restaurants included, you know?
"I'm sorry, that ship has sailed. But if you get there, tell them you know me."
Also featured at the ribbon-cutting was free Colorado-made beer, a live band ("Steve and Jimmy") and a "water arch" intended to make a splash as the airport sent off its first direct-to-Denver flight.
High demand
Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority Executive Director Thomas Stoudt said the new flight path was created due to high demand.
"According to Allegiant, this was their fastest-selling and largest-selling new route-pair announcement that they've seen," Stoudt said.
"So just to get a sense of that, that's over 7,000 bookings that we've had since the announcement in February, through November."
Stoudt said that doesn't even include ski season, when parts of Colorado such as Aspen and Breckenridge become internationally popular tourist destinations.
Stoudt said he didn't know for sure why there's such a demand in the Lehigh Valley to go to Denver, but he speculated that — as in Armstrong's case — it's a lot of personal connections to people there.
"We heard from the county executive today that he has family there, I've talked to, I can't tell you how many people today, who've told me 'oh, this is perfect, because I have family out there, I have friends out there,' so I think there's just a lot of connection from this region. However that's made. Clearly it's been a popular one and we're just excited that we can provide it."Thomas Stoudt, executive director of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority
"We heard from the county executive today that has family there," Stoudt said.
"I've talked to I can't tell you how many people today who've told me 'Oh, this is perfect, because I have family out there, I have friends out there.'
"So I think there's just a lot of connection from this region, however that's made. Clearly it's been a popular one and we're just excited that we can provide it."
Price point
When Allegiant Air announced the planned new flight path in February, it said rates would be as low as $59.
Looking through Allegiant's website, there are indeed flights that start at that rate — some even below. However, this does not include baggage fees.
Two passengers on the first direct flight to Denver said Thursday that they paid more than $500 for their tickets.
"We were happy to see a nonstop flight from A-B-E, so that's why we picked it."Flight customer Sam Hower
"We heard there were $118 flights, well, we're paying $500 and we want a refund!" Sarah Steinheiser said, jokingly.
They showed up early for their flight and took advantage of the free beer samples, even joking that they wanted another one before doing an interview.
She and her friend, Sam Hower, said they were headed to Denver to see an old friend. They both live in the Lehigh Valley and said they were excited about the new flight path from LVIA, also known as A-B-E Airport, despite their complaints about the price they were charged.
"We were happy to see a nonstop flight from A-B-E, so that's why we picked it," Hower said. "A-B-E for life!"
