With effect of  May 27, Emirates added Rickenbacker airport in Columbus, Ohio to its network of  maindeck stations. It now runs a B777-200 freighter once a week to the airport, which marks its sixth US destination served with all-cargo equipment.

Thanks to the presence of The Limited in its catchment area, Rickenbacker has attracted cargo charters for years, but scheduled international freighter operations remained elusive for the all-cargo airport until Cathay Pacific launched a twice-weekly service last year.

Mark Sutch, general manager of cargo sales and marketing for the Hong Kong-based airline says that the service has done well so far.

“It started as a flight with a large portion of space underwritten by a single client, but interest has grown fast and we now have a good healthy flight with more to come, we hope. LCK is an example of a destination that, once served, opens opportunities people had never really thought about,” he remarked.

Cathay did not remain the sole operator of B747-8 freighters at Rickenbacker for long. In December, Cargolux mounted a scheduled weekly freighter run to the airport. The European carrier had earlier run an inbound service into the US airport.

For its part, the airport authority is eager to develop export flows and add to its cargo capabilities. This spring, it obtained designation by the US Department of Agriculture as an approved port for the shipment of live animals.

“Very few airports in the United States are designated for live animal export services and this is a tremendous opportunity for us to develop new business partnerships,” said Bryan Schreiber, manager, business development – air cargo, for the Columbus Regional Airport Authority.

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has also set its sights on animal shipments. In November, it signed a 30-year lease deal with Ark Development, an affiliate of real estate company Racebrook Capital, to design and build a 178,000-square-foot (16,536-square-kilometre) animal cargo facility at JFK airport, the Big Apple’s premier gateway.

Not surprisingly, what will be the first privately-owned animal terminal in the world, according to the port authority, will be called ‘The Ark.’

The US$48 million facility, which is slated to open in the first quarter of 2016, will have a USDA-approved, full-service, 24-hour quarantine area for the import and export of horses, pets, birds and livestock.

The port authority expects to see some US$108 million in revenues from the facility over its 30-year span, but moving into live animal transportation is more than a push to develop incremental revenues for JFK. Over the years, the airport has lost its lustre and needs some fresh impetus to regain momentum.

 A study of air cargo at JFK presented in 2013 by consulting firm Landrum & Brown found that “downturns in air cargo volumes over the past decade have affected JFK more than other gateways. JFK air cargo volumes have declined by almost a third over the past decade.”

The authors attributed the decline of JFK to the maturity of its important European market and the more aggressive marketing efforts of rival airports in the US including Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Washington and Philadelphia to siphon off cargo streams that had historically flowed through New York.

Some airline executives find that poorly-planned cargo infrastructure at JFK has been another reason for the airport’s decline.

Last autumn, New York governor Mario Cuomo stunned the air cargo industry with the suggestion that JFK’s cargo activities should be moved to Stewart airport, which is located some 60 miles north of JFK. Stewart has no international widebody service, so industry executives were quick to slam the plan as a recipe for disaster.

However, one carrier executive could see some merit in such a scenario. “I would consider flying to Stewart and trucking the cargo to forwarders at JFK [as being] quicker than flying to JFK and dealing with the handling mess at JFK,” said Shawn McWhorter, president, the Americas, at Nippon Cargo Airlines.

“The infrastructure at JFK is terrible. The congestion and the waiting and queuing times for trucks is bad,” he explained.

The JFK study identified congested road access and a restriction on 53-ft trailers as serious impediments for airfreight trucking to and from the airport. In addition, JFK needs a re-branding effort.

“The airport needs to define its future role in air cargo,” its authors argued, adding that “recapturing this lost cargo volume due to market fragmentation will be problematic and depends on innovative solutions to generate new air cargo activity.”

Mike Webber, a former airport cargo executive-turned-industry consultant, reckons that JFK will benefit from the animal facility. An airport that already has all the forwarders and connections, will find it easier to develop this business, he reflected. “You are not driving development, you respond to it. Plus, you already have the manpower, you already have a maindeck loader,” he said.

At Philadelphia, the focus for the development of more cargo business is on another special segment: pharmaceuticals and life sciences. American Airlines recently completed the construction of a 25,000-square-foot (2,322-square-kilometre) dedicated pharmaceutical/healthcare handling facility at the airport. Philadelphia, one of the key markets for pharmaceuticals in the US, has been a major transatlantic gateway for US Airways, which recently merged with American.

By Ian Putzger

Air Freight Correspondent | Toronto