The two-day, ticketed show could provide the financially struggling airport with a new source of revenue and remind travelers of local flight opportunities.
View full size
A traveler waits to depart at Lehigh Valley International Airport. The airport will host an airshow in August.
Charles Everett, the airport's executive director, said at today's Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority meeting that LVIA should be able to draw 15,000 people and turn a $30,000 profit at the airshow Aug. 24 and 25. The airport has not hosted an airshow in 15 years, he said, and locals would be drawn to the event for a chance to see stunts and aircraft up close.
Existing air shows in Atlantic City and Long Island, N.Y., face cancellation due to government budget cuts, Everett said. Those locations depended on military groups like the Navy's Blue Eagles and the Air Force's Thunderbirds, but neither group is scheduled to perform after April 1 due to the federal sequestration, Everett said. Those cuts provide an opportunity to attract aviation fans from around the region, he said.
"We expect this to be a large draw," Everett said. "We think we'll be very competitive."
The board's unanimous vote to move forward with the show today will allow the airport's administration to begin booking acts to perform. Everett rattled off several groups the administration has contacted, including an all-women's sky diving group. One act, the Iron Eagle Acrobatic Team, has already listed the LVIA show on its website.
Attractions like this may become vital to the Hanover Township, Lehigh County, facility as it fights to reinvent itself after years of financial hardship. Dean Browning, treasurer of the LNAA board of governors, said the airport is already $300,000 behind its $19.6 million revenue projection this year, and it faces $12.4 million in debt service and $11.7 million in court settlements over the next three years. Its cash balance has nearly been halved over the past three years, he said.
On top of that, local aviators are concerned the authority may opt to sell its Braden Airpark in Forks Township, and LVIA will be down to four airline carriers next month. Frontier Airlines opted to discontinue nonstop service to LVIA back in November.
Browning said authority officials will have to find new ways of generating revenue in order to secure the airport's future. The airport has already cut itself down to the bare bones, he said.
"We really can’t cut our way to prosperity. We can’t go any lower and still maintain our viability as an airport," he said.
Everett said the airshow will cost the authority $283,000. However, with sponsorships, ticket sales and other sales, he said he is confident it will turn a profit. Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem has already expressed an interest in being a primary sponsor, he said.
Events like this will also draw in people who currently use other regional airports to travel, reminding them of the services they offer, he said.
"We want to make sure the community knows the airport is here and knows what we’re all about," Everett said.