Prince George does not host regular freighters en route from larger North American markets to Asia, but the local airport authority has put the necessary elements in place to change that.

One key plank in this is a 25,000-square-foot cargo terminal that came on stream last year at the airport in British Columbia. Another factor is a 600,000-litre common fuel storage facility, supported with four recently purchased fuel trucks, which allows the airport to refuel any widebody aircraft in 90 minutes or less, according to Allan Ridgway, director of cargo business development.

“With our upgrades and changes to our fueling capabilities, it has allowed us to offer the lowest published price for itinerant/GA aircraft fuel at C$0.97 (US$0.72) per litre,” he said.

Prince George’s catchment area does not generate much origin/destination traffic, but the airport authority is working on developing its reach to draw in cargo from further afield. The city of Prince George has applied for FTZ designation.

“We see this as an excellent opportunity for transportation and distribution operators to establish themselves at one of the closest points in North America from Asia, that connects ocean, rail, truck and air services providing distribution capabilities throughout Canada and the US,” said Ridgway.

At the opposite end of Canada, Halifax International Airport has been able to draw in freighters from Asia and Europe, such as Korean Air and Qatar Airways. The latest entrant was Yangtze River Express, which arrived in January with Boeing 747-400F aircraft for a string of flights hauling seafood, chiefly lobster, to its home market.

Seafood has been the chief engine of cargo growth at Halifax, which clocked a 4.1% rise in tonnage last year to 33,000 tonnes. The value of seafood exports lifted out of the airport last year was about US$187 million, US$40 million up from the previous year, and the airport authority expects further growth ahead.

To accommodate freighter activities, a new cargo apron came on stream last December, adding 17,000 square metres of freighter parking space.

To gear up for growth, Hamilton International Airport opened a 77,000-square-foot cargo facility in 2015. The airport saw a boost in its role last year when anchor carrier Cargojet started 767F flights to Mexico and Colombia in a commercial partnership with Air Canada, which markets the capacity. Previously the airport’s function in cargo was almost purely domestic, serving as the hub of Cargojet’s overnight network hauling traffic for the express industry across Canada. The Cargojet-Air Canada venture has brought an influx of cargo to and from Latin America, serving Air Canada’s global network, such as perishables headed to Asia and electronics from Asia moving in the opposite direction.

The airport authority is in pursuit of international charter opportunities to develop another leg to stand on, but to date these efforts have not yielded any lasting success.

Building up charters is also on the agenda for David Whitaker, chief commercial officer at the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which looks after several airports in the region, including Rickenbacker International, the designated cargo airport.

“Now that airlines have regularly scheduled activity here and therefore ground handling, warehousing and trucking relationships, many want to route their charters through here,” he said. “We had over 100 charters last year.”

Last year 91,698 tonnes of cargo passed through the airport, up 2% from the year before, as the number of weekly scheduled international freighter flights climbed from nine to 12, thanks to increases in frequency by Emirates and Qatar Airways. International throughput climbed 16%.

Rickenbacker, which now has eight weekly freighter links to Hong Kong, boosted its capacity last year with the opening of Cargo Terminal 5, which has 85,000 square feet of warehouse space and 15,000 square feet of offices. Capacity also grew outside the airport’s perimeter, Whitaker reported.

This year the port authority intends to create an export inspection facility to support horse traffic, which is currently processed through a facility off airport.

“We are seeing plenty of other livestock as well, including cows and goats,” said Whitaker, adding that “we are also working on bringing an international e-commerce solution to Rickenbacker’s new Air Cargo Terminal 5.”

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is preparing for the opening of a 37,000-square-foot cold chain facility this summer, which will offer 15,000 square feet for refrigeration. The airport authority sees strong potential in temperature-sensitive cargo, such as perishables arriving from Latin America to connect with departures to Asia. This is a major focus for this year, a spokesman for the airport confirmed.

DFW now hosts eight carriers that offer maindeck links with Asia, and their operations climbed 3.3% last year, while import tonnage from Asia was up 2.3%. The airport added three new international freighter operations to its tally in 2016, courtesy of a weekly 747-400F service by Qantas, twice-weekly 777F flights by Qatar Airways and twice-weekly 767-300s for Air Canada en route from Latin America to Canada.

“The combination of low total landing costs, lift availability and transit time results in a clear, competitive advantage at DFW in multiple trade lanes,” the spokesman said, citing Chile to Asia for salmon, fruit and vegetables, Brazil to Asia for fruit and vegetables and Mexico to Asia for fruit and auto parts.

By Ian Putzger

Air Freight Correspondent | Toronto