Anchorage airport officials hope the addition of five new cargo air carriers will help expand the airport’s cargo capacity.
Due to its place on the globe, especially its closeness to Asia markets, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport has been a major leader in cargo shipping for years. It has ranked as high as number three in the world as far as total tonnes of cargo going through.
“Memphis, the home of FedEx, is the only airport in the United States with more cargo traffic than here at Ted Stevens,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said at a press conference Thursday. “Now, with the addition of five new cargo carriers, we will be even more competitive.”
The five new cargo carriers are Awesome Cargo Airlines, Central Airlines of China, ASL Air Cargo, Aerologic Air Cargo and CMA CGM Air Cargo.
Dunleavy said the expansion will make air cargo shipping to Mexico more accessible, as well as routes through Asia and Africa.
Deputy airport director Teri Lindseth said the airport recently slipped to fourth place, behind Shanghai, but the new expansion should provide a boost.
“With these new cargo carriers, you know, bumping up those numbers, we are hoping to get back to number three here very soon,” Lindseth said.
Lindseth said the addition of the new carriers will bring an annual revenue increase of about $9 million to the airport, about a 7% bump.
Additionally, she highlighted a series of expansions at the airport, including the much-touted Northlink Aviation expansion at the south terminal.
“They’ll be continuing construction this upcoming summer, developing several hard stands for wide body parking, a modern warehousing facility, as well as infrastructure to recover and recycle glycol, which is used for de-icing aircraft here at ANC,” Lindseth said.
She also noted an expansion of the airport’s FedEx hub and the Signature Aviation corporate aircraft terminal. She said another entity, Alaska Cargo and Cold Storage, anticipates beginning construction at the airport next summer.
Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
