Amazon Air landed for the first time at Lakeland International Airport in Florida on 23 July, ABC Action News reported. Aside from undergoing runway renovations, including upgrading an instrument landing system to guide aircraft operations in bad weather, the airport added five fuel tanks and improved runway 9-27. 

Amazon has built an air cargo facility on a land lease with the airport. A 223,000-sqft building along with two additional facilities estimated at 60,000 square feet will make up the air hub. 

The e-commerce and logistics giant will initially lease 47 acres of a 110-acre parcel, with the right to expand to an additional 62 acres within the first five years. 

Furthermore, the operation will bring in more than $80,000 a month for the airport in the first five years with the opportunity to increase by 7.5% every five years after that, the report stated. 

With the LAL air hub online, Amazon is set to open other regional air hubs, with operations at San Bernardino International Airport scheduled to start next year, along with the central Amazon Air Hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 2021. 

In May, Amazon Air began Gateway operations at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas, and Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a press release from Amazon stated.