Cargo tonnage surges 30pc in May at LA/Ontario International Airport

FREIGHT traffic at Los Angeles/Ontario International has been up by about 15 per cent for the most of the year while air cargo tonnage in May shot up 29.47 per cent compared to the same month in 2011 against a backdrop of declining passenger traffic numbers.

"Cargo, in general, peaks a little bit in the summer because, believe it or not, people are preparing for the holidays," said Mary Sullivan, the president of Sullivan Consulting Services. "They usually start planning for the holidays in July and August."

The airport could be poised for more growth as long as the industrial sector continues to grow. The number of industrial warehouse vacancies has fallen in the past year and many of those spaces are being occupied by major retailers, she said. Online retailers prefer to deliver to the Inland Empire region through Ontario rather than shipping to Orange County or to Los Angeles International Airport because it gets to the customer more quickly, Ms Sullivan said.

"To start seeing an increase of cargo, in general, is not atypical. In general, cargo for Ontario could be affected in a positive way because of an improving industrial scene," Ms Sullivan said. "The Inland Empire has their fair share of Target and Wal-Mart warehouses, and some of that product might be brought in through the ports and air. In the Inland Empire, it's online shopping that everyone is watching."

One of those cargo operators is UPS, which operates its western region hub at Ontario. The cargo carrier accounts for a majority of the airport's air cargo and operates about 38 flights a day at the airport, the Ontario-based DailyBulletin.com in California reported.

"Ontario certainly remains a strategic point for UPS, as the location of our US West Coast regional air hub," UPS spokesman Mike Mangeot said.

John Magness, senior vice president for Hillwood Investment Properties, said not only is it a sign that the economy is growing - because consumers are spending - it shows the marketplace is becoming more accepting of dot-com businesses. It's in part due to a shift in the establishment of major online retailers such as Amazon.com and big-box stores such as Target, Wal-Mart and Kohls in recent years.

"The world is moving toward people needing things overnight and the dot-coms that are coming up are users of air cargo," said Mr Magness, who is also the president of the NAIOP Inland Empire Chapter.

Hillwood Investment Properties has partnered Hofer Ranch to develop a 600,000-square-foot building and two 100,000-square-foot buildings just south of Ontario, which are expected to be completed by December.

Air cargo and UPS will be critical for companies who are trying to make overnight deadlines, Mr Magness said. For example, Amazon will be building a 1 million-square-foot facility in San Bernardino, only 14 miles from the airport. And when that's built, Ms Sullivan said Ontario may continue to see an uptick.