Ranking 33rd in Airports Council International’s 2012 ranking, Atlanta saw 663,162 tonnes of cargo move through the airport in 2011.
But with aggressive promotion of not just the airport but the surrounding catchment area by airport officials, local chamber of commerce and enthusiastically probusiness Atlanta Mayor, Kasim Reed, more and more cargo operators have chosen to make Hartsfield-Jackson part of their global network.
And its not hard to see why. As an airport Hartfield-Jackson offers excellent infrastructure – five parallel runways which allow for three simultaneous take offs and arrivals, favourable weather conditions, 24/7 operations, ample available space for future expansion and pro-cargo airport executives. A healthy contingent of over 140 freight forwarders is also present in the market.
The airport is also blessed by geography as well – with Atlanta within 80 per cent of US consumers within a two hour flight – according to Bob Pertierra, vice president of supply-chain development at Metro Atlanta Chamber which in a unique partnership, works alongside the airport to promote supply chain activities. Hartsfield-Jackson is the Southeastern US’ “largest economic engine,” he says of the airport’s ability to attract companies to locate in Atlanta because of, among other things, the unsurpassed connectivity.
The Atlanta area also offers not just a good cargo source market, but large consumption market as well and one that is growing as a small, but steady population shift takes place from northeastern US to the southeast, according to Pertierra. The city is home to a growing number of major corporations including stalwarts like Coca Cola, UPS, Home Depot and seven out of the top 10 major information technology companies. A burgeoning automotive manufacturing hub as well, the Atlanta area boasts the likes of global automakers Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes, who all fly their car parts through Hartsfield-Jackson on a daily basis.
Kia recently expanded its 890 hectare manufacturing facility in nearby West Point, Georgia, to increase its vehicle production rate. And similarly luxury brand Porsche which taps nonstop flights from Hartsfield-Jackson to Porsche’s Stuttgart, Germany, headquarters recently purchased 13 hectares of land adjacent the airport, with an option for eight more, where it will build a new US$100 million facility, slated to open in late 2013 replacing the automaker’s current North American headquarters.
And likewise for the aviation industry it’s also the US headquarters for Lufthansa, AF-KLM, SkyTeam, Delta and UPS.
And of course being the largest passenger airport in the world also spells connectivity and significant belly hold cargo. On the maindeck side, where Jones highlights the 52 weekly freighter flights from the 15 maindeck carriers, including 9 out of the top 10, that the airport has attracted. These include: Air France-KLM Cargo, British Airways World Cargo, Cathay Pacific Cargo, Air China Cargo, Eva Airways Cargo, Korean Cargo, Qatar Cargo, UPS, Asiana Cargo, Cargolux, China Airlines Cargo, DHL, FedEx, Lufthansa Cargo and Singapore Airlines Cargo. The one obvious carrier missing from this line-up – and one Hartsfield-Jackson’s aviation development manager Warren Jones is determined to win over – Emirates SkyCargo.
Jones notes that the airport is continually working on trying to woo more carriers and makes frequent trade delegations to Asia. He adds that discussion with other Chinese carriers are ongoing. “We need routes to support manufacturing base, we need that lift.
So we see it as strategic to have as many connections as possible. Air cargo really is access to markets and it’s all about giving your local businesses every opportunity you can,” he says.
Pertierra also notes that Atlanta also boasts very good intermodal options, including road, rail and even sea connections, being located only 200 miles from the major container port of Savannah. Importantly for air cargo, it’s also a balanced freight market, both inbound and outbound. Atlanta’s position as a major logistics hub is no doubt a holdover from its early history when for instance, the city was burned to the ground during the US Civil War because of its prominence of a logistics hub for the south.
And while cargo is down this year by 2.5 per cent, it’s drop has not been as severe as many other airports in the US per cent said Jones who added: “While the cargo volume is down a little bit, as soon as the economy starts to recover and people start to buy more goods we’ll see it pick up.” The airport was also given a shot in the arm recently with the beginning of service by Air Cargo Germany which began a twice-weekly freighter service connecting Atlanta with Europe, Russia- Central Asia and Africa.
Southwest Airlines is also a newcomer, but the airline has quickly established itself as a cargo player at the airport after opening a 2,400 sqm cargo facility earlier this year in February. In just six months of operations the carrier handled more than 1.13 million kilos of cargo.
Jones also noted that the airport is planning a 9,290 sqm cargo facility to serve freighters, with the facility operational as early as mid-2014. The facility will also boast cold-chain facilities with the airport eying a slice of the Latin American perishables business, one now clearly dominated by Miami. “There’s a lot of opportunity for growth in perishables and Delta Cargo is looking to increase its focus on Latin America so there is a chance that we can shift some of this business from Miami,” Jones said.
“One of the big things we’re doing now is updating masterplan for airport. The last one was in 1999 – so that was 13 years ago. It will be finished by end of next year and will provide 5, 10, 20 year projections and will layout a development programme as to what we expect will happen, such as a new 6th runway for instance. It’s a bit of challenge, we do have lot going on,” he notes.
