Airport Closest to Reading, PA

Traveling to Reading, PA can raise some questions as there the city has no major airport. To find the airport closest to Reading, PA you’ll need to consider multiple options.

The closest airport to Reading, PA is the Lancaster Airport. However, Lancaster Airport is a small regional airport with only a handful of regular flights each week. So what are the other options for airports near Reading, PA?

Luckily the city of Reading is in a pretty crowded area of Pennsylvania. This means that there are multiple smaller and bigger airports near Reading, PA. This makes flying to Reading easy even though there is no local airport that you can use.

List of Airports Near Reading, PA

Before we dive into the details of each airport near Reading, PA, we’ll give it to you in a table format. If you are only interested in the hard facts then this table is especially for you. We’ll order the airports by road distance to Reading, PA downtown.

This way you can easily search for cheap flights depending on distance and connectivity to your local airport. There is also one more key in the below table: the airports we think are the best choice are highlighted in bold. Either they have the best connectivity or the closest airport to Reading, PA making them a great choice.

Airport Name	IATA	Distance
Lancaster Airport	LNS	30 miles
Lehigh Valley International Airport	ABE	40 miles
Harrisburg International Airport	MDT	60 miles
Philadelphia International Airport	PHL	65 miles

The Closest Airport to Reading, PA

Although the closest airport to Reading, PA is the Lancaster Airport we’ll not use this airport as our highlighted choice. Rather we’ll take the closest major airport to Reading, PA which is the Philadelphia International Airport.

Simply put, the Philadelphia International Airport is the best choice when traveling to Reading, PA. It’s only around 65 miles from Reading so it’s approximately one hour of driving.

When you look at the airports near Reading, PA, you can’t beat the connectivity that’s offered by Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). If you are on the east coast you will most likely have a direct flight to Philly.

Not only does the east coast have a great connection to PHL airport but going to the western areas of the nation you’ll still get a lot of direct flights from places like LA or SF.

Add to that you get international flights in Philadelphia International Airport as well, though we kind of doubt international flyers are looking at Reading, PA as their first city to visit in the US. It’s only possible if they are going to Reading, PA for a business trip.

Philadelphia Intl Airport is really the best choice when flying to Reading, PA. It’s pretty close to the actual city. Car rentals or transfers are readily available at Philadelphia making it easy to get from one city to the other.

Other Airports Near Reading, PA

Philadelphia International Airport will cover the travel needs of almost anyone that wants to fly to Reading, PA. However, there are still some more options in case you want to find some superb deals on cheap flights.

Let’s take a look at the other airports near Reading, PA. As we’ve already said, the city is in a quite metropolitan area with multiple bigger towns around and this means multiple nice airports around.

While many of these airports fall short of the connectivity of Philadelphia they can be good alternatives for you specifically. In case you are somewhere that has direct connections to these small airports, then you might be able to save on airfare, transfer, or car rental prices.

Lancaster Airport

Lancaster Airport (LNS) is actually the closest airport to Reading, PA. Yet, it’s pretty hard to recommend this airport. Not because of the distance but because of the connectivity to the rest of the nation.

There is just one airline that has a passenger service to LNS and it’s Southern Airways Express. They fly to and from: Pittsburg, Washington, and Nantucket.

Unless you are staying in any of these three places then Lancaster Airport is not a great choice as you’ll need to grab a connecting flight. Being a small airport there aren’t many options from these cities either so even a two-leg flight will be hard to plan.

However, if you are in Pittsburg, Washington, or Nantucket you can try your hand at finding some cheap flights to Lancaster Airport. You might get lucky and save a few dollars compared to going to Philly Airport.

The road distance is only 30 miles, or around 30 minutes of driving, which is roughly the half compared to coming from Philadelphia. This is the closest airport to Reading, PA after all.

Lehigh Valley International Airport

Lehigh Valley International Airport is a little better connected to the rest of the US and it’s still pretty close to Reading, PA.

You can hitch direct flights to Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) from multiple towns in Florida, and towns like Chicago or Nashville.

It’s only around 40 miles from Reading, PA, but the driving time is close to one hour. This means that the transfer time is very similar then it is from Philadelphia Airport.

We recommend for you to consider Lehigh Valley (Allentown) if you are in a place that has direct flights to the airport. In that case, you can compare ticket prices and maybe find a great deal. Otherwise, it’s just easier to find a transfer at Philadelphia International.

Harrisburg International Airport

The Harrisburg International Airport (MDT) is around 60 miles or one hour of driving from Reading, PA. This makes it a very similar choice to the other options when you are looking for the closest airport to Reading, PA.

As it is with many of these regional airports we can recommend them, if you can find a cheap deal and if you have a direct connection to Harrisburg International Airport. Otherwise, you can stick to the many other airports available in the area.

Airport Closest to Reading, PA – FAQ