FedEx opened a 59.5-acre ramp operation at Ontario International Airport.

The site includes a two-year transformation is a 251,000 square-foot complex which opened earlier this month and includes a sorting facility capable of handling 12,000 packages per hour. The facility also includes nine wide-body aircraft gates, 14 feeder aircraft gates and 18 truck docks.

 It also includes around 2700 non-conveyable shipments.

The facility includes nine widebody aircraft gates, 14 feeder aircraft gates and 18 truck docks.

“The opening of the new FedEx Express Ontario ramp greatly strengthens our operations and services, including our competitive position in the market and added efficiency to handle the increasing e-commerce volume coming out of the Southern California area,” said Richard W. Smith, regional president of The Americas and executive vice president of global support, FedEx Express. “We’re proud to launch this state-of-the-art ramp operation right before the peak holiday season.”

Tim Wertner, senior vice president, western division, US Operations, FedEx Express said the “Ontario International Airport Authority has been instrumental in supporting our vision for this major expansion.”

“We appreciate the airport authority’s collaboration and look forward to this exciting new chapter operating in the Ontario market,” he added.

The redeveloped parcel of more than 50 acres is nearly triple the size of the previous space FedEx occupied and represents the most significant improvement project at ONT since the 1990s. With considerably more space and increased capacity, the operation will employ 490.

“The global pandemic cast a bright light on supply chain participants as consumers hunkered down at home and relied on e-commerce shipments of vital household supplies, and we are proud to say Ontario has distinguished itself as a key component in the goods movement industry,” said Mark Thorpe, OIAA’s chief executive officer.

Cargo was a point of strength for ONT before the coronavirus brought global air travel to a sudden stop in March, Thorpe noted.

In 2020, however, air freight has been the lifeblood of the airport and will continue to be for years to come.

Air cargo volume increased 19% through the first nine months of the year and by 20% or more in six of those months. From January through September, freight volume was nearly 645,000 tons compared to 539,000 tons in the same period in 2019.