Ground has been broken on the first on-site hotel at Lehigh Valley International Airport, a 145-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel slated to open in roughly two years.

Nearly a century ago, the parcel where the hotel is being constructed was an emergency landing strip for air mail pilots for the airport, also known as Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton airport (ABE).

The airport, the second-largest cargo operation in Pennsylvania, broke ground last year on a $40.8-million expansion to its cargo services to meet growing demand from Lehigh Valley businesses.

In 2023, the airport opened a $35-million expansion of its passenger terminal.

The Lehigh County Industrial Development Authority secured some of the project’s funding through four tax-exempt bond issues, totaling $42 million.