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Officials celebrated with a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday at the project’s site off Postal Road in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. It would be the first hangar built at Lehigh Valley International Airport since 2006 and should take about 10 months to complete.
As planes soared in the background at LVIA, officials talked about how the new 54,000-square-foot hangar will fit all types of general aviation aircraft, in addition to large ones that weigh up to 100,000 pounds.
The demand for corporate aircraft space is strong in the Northeast corridor, particularly for those companies looking at places in the Valley, said Thomas Stoudt, executive director of LNAA.
“This now creates that option,” Stoudt said.
The authority has received interest from three companies looking to occupy the space, Stoudt said.
“At this point, we do have some interest; we are going to continue to market the hangar,” Stoudt said. “Once the hangar comes out of the ground, that’s when [tenants] show interest. These are the types of aircraft that could make a significant trip around the world.”
These types of aircraft are larger and often not simply making local trips.
State Sen. Lisa Boscola, one of the speakers at the event, discussed the spinoff effect of the hangar bringing other businesses with the need for maintenance and general assistance for the aircraft. More businesses could emerge once the hangar is operating, she added.
In addition, LVIA can now compete with New Jersey airports in Teterboro and Morristown for corporate clients, she said.
The airport authority owns the land where Hangar 11 would go up.
Several Pennsylvania companies will build the hangar, including Grace Industries Inc. of East Allen Township as the general contractor, Boro Construction of King of Prussia as the electrical contractor, Guy M. Cooper Inc. of Willow Grove for plumbing, and Shannon A. Smith of Myerstown for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
The $16 million project also received a $6 million grant from the state Department of Transportation Bureau of Aviation to support the project.
